How do antibiotics fight bacterial infections?

Different antibiotics attack different bacterial processes. Some damage bacterial cell walls, some stop bacteria from making proteins, and others block DNA replication. Because human cells are different from bacterial cells, these medicines can target bacteria selectively. Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928 marked the beginning of the antibiotic era, and penicillin became widely used in the 1940s. Overuse and misuse have driven antibiotic resistance, which is now a major global health problem.