Streptomyces in Nature and Medicine

About this book

"Streptomyces in Nature and Medicine: The Antibiotic Makers is an insider's account of fifty years of genetic studies on the soil-inhabiting microbes that produce most of the antibiotics used to treat infections, as well as anti-cancer, anti-parasitic, and immunosuppressant drugs." "The book begins by describing how these microbes - the actinomycetes - were discovered in the latter part of the nineteenth century, but remained a "Cinderella" group until the 1940s. The actinomycetes then shot to prominence with the discovery of streptomycin, the first effective treatment for tuberculosis and only the second antibiotic, alter penicillin, to become a medical marvel. Tempered by the rise of antibiotic resistance consequent on antibiotic misuse and overuse, a massive effort was made over the next several decades to find further treatments for infectious diseases and cancer."--BOOK JACKET.