What is a Drug?

A drug is any substance taken into the body that

modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body.

There are different kinds of drugs for example,

antibiotics and painkillers.

Some drugs are medicinal drugs that are used to treat

the symptoms or causes of a disease - for example,
antibiotics

The liver is the primary site for drug metabolism

 Antibiotics
Antibiotics are chemical substances made by certain fungi or bacteria that affect the
working of bacterial cells, either by disrupting their structure or function or by
preventing them from reproducing.
Antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not against viruses.
Antibiotics target processes and structures that are specific to bacterial (prokaryotic)
cells; as such they do not generally harm animal cells.
• Antibiotics reduce bacterial growth and can stop its spread.
Therefore they actually reduce the number of pathogens and
treat the underlying problem, rather than just treating the
symptoms like painkillers.
• Antibiotics kill bacteria. Antibiotics work by killing infective
bacteria in the body. They do not damage the host cells, but
instead specifically target bacteria. An example of an
antibiotic is penicillin.
Each bacteria requires a specific antibiotic. Different
bacteria have different properties, so must be
targeted by certain antibiotics.
Painkillers
• Painkillers are used to relieve symptoms. They do not
get rid of infection. Examples include ibuprofen and
paracetamol.
• Painkillers help relieve pain or other symptoms but
don’t treat the cause. For example, if you have a
bacterial infection, the painkillers don’t kill the bacteria
but help soothe the symptoms.
 Antibiotic Resistance & Use

Commonly prescribed antibiotics are becoming less effective due to a number of reasons:

1. overuse and being prescribed when not really necessary

2. patients failing to complete the fully prescribed course by a doctor
3. large scale use of antibiotics in farming to prevent disease when livestock are kept in close quarters, even
when animals are not actually sick
This has led to the effectiveness of antibiotics being reduced, and the incidence of antibiotic resistance
increasing

These bacteria are commonly known as superbugs and the most common is Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Ways individuals can help prevent the incidence of antibiotic resistance increasing include:
1. only taking antibiotics when absolutely essential
2. when prescribed a course of antibiotics, ensure that the entire course is completed even if you feel better
after a few days
 Use of Bacteria

• Microorganisms can be used by humans to produce foods and other

useful substances
• The most common type of microorganisms used in biotechnology are
bacteria
• They are useful because they are capable of producing complex
molecules (eg. certain bacteria added to milk produce enzymes that
turn the milk into yoghurt)
• They are also useful because they reproduce rapidly, meaning the
amount of chemicals they can produce can also rapidly increase
 Usefulness of Bacteria:
• In addition to the benefits of rapid reproduction and the ability to
make complex molecules, bacteria have other benefits in
biotechnology
• There are few ethical considerations to growing them in large
numbers in the laboratory
• They possess plasmids
• Plasmids are small, circular loops of DNA which can be an ideal way of
transferring DNA from one cell to another during genetic
manipulation
 Everyday Products Made with
Biotechnology
• Biofuels
• Yeast is a single celled fungus that uses
sugar as its food source
• When it respires, ethanol and carbon
dioxide are produced (and energy is
released)
• The ethanol produced in this reaction is
increasingly being used as a biofuel (a
fuel made from living organisms rather
than a fossil fuel like oil, coal or gas)
• Plant material is used as the substrate for
producing ethanol (as a source of
glucose)
• Bread
• Yeast will respire anaerobically if
it has access to plenty of sugar,
even if oxygen is available
• This is taken advantage of in
bread making, where the yeast
is mixed with flour and water
and respires anaerobically,
producing carbon dioxide
• The carbon dioxide produced by
the yeast during respiration is
caught in the dough, causing the
bread to rise
• Fruit Juice Production
• Fruit juice is produced by squeezing the fruits to remove the juice
• Chopping the fruit up before squeezing helps to release a lot more juice,
but this does not break open all the cells so a lot of juice is lost
• By adding an enzyme called pectinase to the chopped up fruit, more
juice is released
• Pectinase works by breaking down a chemical called pectin that is found
inside plant cell walls
• Once pectin is broken down, the cell walls break more easily and more
juice can be squeezed out of the fruit
• Adding pectinase to fruits also helps to produce a clearer juice as larger
polysaccharides like pectin can make the juice seem cloudy - once they
are broken down into smaller molecules, the juice becomes clearer
• Biological Washing Powders
• Many stains on clothes are organic molecules – oil from skin, protein from blood, fat
and protein from food
• Detergents that only contain soap can remove some of these stains when mixed with
hot water, but it can take a lot of time and effort and very high temperatures to
remove the stains entirely
• Biological washing powders contain enzymes similar to the digestive enzymes
produced in the alimentary canal that help to break down large food molecules
• Using biological washing powders has several advantages, including:
• Quickly breaking down large, insoluble molecules such as fats and proteins into
smaller, soluble ones that will dissolve in washing water
• They are effective at lower temperatures, meaning less energy (and money) has to
be used in order to wash clothes to get them clean as washing water does not need
to be heated to higher temperatures
• They can be used to clean delicate fabrics that would not be suitable for washing at
high temperatures
Other Uses of Biotechnology:
Lactose is the sugar found in milk
Human babies are born with the ability to produce lactase,
the enzyme that breaks down lactose. In certain areas of
the world, many people lose the ability to produce lactase
as they get older
This means that they can become lactose intolerant and
react badly to the lactose in milk and products made from
milk (cheese, yoghurt etc)
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include nausea,
flatulence and diarrhoea as their digestive system is upset
by the lactose
Milk can be made lactose free by adding the enzyme
lactase to it and leaving it to stand for a while to allow the
enzyme to break down the lactose
• Penicillin Production
• Penicillin was the first antibiotic, discovered in 1928
by Alexander Fleming
• Since the discovery of penicillin, methods have been
developed to produce it on a large scale, using an
industrial fermenter
• Fermenters are containers used to grow (‘culture’)
microorganisms like bacteria and fungi in large
amounts
• These can then be used for many biotechnological
processes like producing genetically modified
bacteria and the penicillium mould that produces
penicillin
• The advantage of using a fermenter is that
conditions can be carefully controlled to produce
large quantities of exactly the right type of
microorganism
• Types of Immunity
• Active immunity
• Passive immunity
• Active Immunity
• Active immunity is the body’s immune response against a pathogen
through antibody production. The body must produce its own
antibodies for it to be classed as active immunity.
• Active immunity can be gained after being infected by a pathogen or
through vaccination. This is because both of these processes involve
the body producing its own antibodies.
• Each pathogens has its own antigens with a specific shape.
• Antibodies specifically binds with antigens and cause either direct
destruction of pathogens or mark the pathogen for destruction by
phagocytes.
• Each antibody have complementary shape which fits into specific
antigens.
• Active immunity is gained once you are exposed to any pathogens or it
can also be attained after vaccination.
 • Passive Immunity
• Passive immunity is the body’s short term immune response against
a pathogen through antibodies acquired from another person. The
body doesn’t make its own antibodies but receives it from someone
else. For example, a mother can pass on antibodies to her child
during pregnancy and breastfeeding. This is important as the young
child’s immune system may not be developed enough to produce its
own antibodies so passive immunity protects them from infections.
• Memory cells are not made in passive immunity. Hence, there is no
long term protection with passive immunity.
 particular disease by being vaccinated.
Artificial immunity
We can acquire immunity to a

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 Vaccination:
• vaccine is produced by weakened pathogens or their antigens.
• the antigens stimulate an immune response by lymphocytes which
produce antibodies
• memory cells are produced that give long-term immunity.