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Asked by Ellen to Alex, Anaïs, Peter, Shreesha on 17 Mar 2015.
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Peter Maskell answered on 17 Mar 2015:
the chemical will damage the germ such that it cannot survive (like in bacteria it could damage the cell wall). drugs will target a specific process that the germ needs to survive or reproduce.
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Shreesha Bhat answered on 17 Mar 2015:
Hi Ellen,
Most common way is the damage to the cell wall of the germ (it can puncture the cellwall, stop the cell wall synthesis (cells in the cell wall need to be synthesized continuously).Other ways that a chemical/drug may affect the germ is stopping its DNA synthesis.
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Anaïs Pujol answered on 17 Mar 2015:
Hi Ellen, when we talk about germs we refer to bacteria and so by consequences the drug is antibiotic. Unfortunately there are no new antibiotic drugs discover since the 60’s with the penicillin.
But how does antibiotic work? they will stop the bacteria to reproduce or kill the bacteria. There are four targets in bacteria, the cell wall, the membrane, ribosome or DNA. They will stop a biological process (DNA synthesis, protein synthesis) or interact with the membrane to disorganise it. This will lead to the death of the bacteria.
Comments
Ellen commented on :
Thank you both very much, Is it possible to get a chemical/drug in your body which can harm another part of your body in serious ways or could it be cured?
Ellen commented on :
So drugs basically break down the cell so that there isnt anything left to harm us?
Shreesha commented on :
Ya, Ellen, Once it breaks down the cells in the cell wall, it results in death of the bacteria.
Shreesha commented on :
As to your first question, There is a possibility that a drug may affect another part of the body which is not desired and we call them side-effects/undesired effects. Like in cancer, drugs act upon quickly dividing cancer cells, and in the process also sometimes act on other cells in the body which are quickly dividing (like the hair cells, skin cells, etc.) Thats why you see that a person getting treated for cancer loses hair and goes bald.
Ellen commented on :
ahh thank you