The CDC and Spectinomycin

Pfizer discontinued US distribution of spectinomycin (Trobicin®) in November 2005; remaining inventory expired in May 2006 [1]. Nonetheless, at the FDA website we still find a Package Insert for Trobicin updated as late as Aug 2012, a thin 6-page leaflet which Continue reading The CDC and Spectinomycin

Streptomyces – The Industrious Antibiotic Producer

Like other actinomycetes, the Streptomyces group of microbes straddles the somewhat artificial boundary between bacteria and fungi. Growth on culture plates looks ‘fungal’ and the organism produces spores and germtubes that look like mycelia.  Nonetheless these soil organisms are bacteria and of Continue reading Streptomyces – The Industrious Antibiotic Producer

Greenwood: Antimicrobial Drugs – Chronicle of a Twentieth Century Medical Triumph

This is not meant to be a book review.  I just want to express my gratitude to Prof. Greenwood for writing a book about the remarkable story of antibiotic discovery and development of the last century.  It is clearly a labor of love, written with Continue reading Greenwood: Antimicrobial Drugs – Chronicle of a Twentieth Century Medical Triumph