Basicmedical Key

1 Introduction Sterilization is anessential stage in the processing of any product destined forparenteral administration, or for contact with broken skin, mucosal surfaces, or internal organs, where the threat of…

1 Introduction Laboratory evaluation of antimicrobial agents remains a cornerstone of clinical microbiology and antimicrobial/ biocide discovery and development. The development of robust and reproducible assays for determining microbial susceptibility…

1 Antibiotic development, past and present An antibiotic was originally defined in the 1940s as a substance produced by one microorganism which, in low concentrations, inhibited the growth of other…

1 Introduction: biotechnology in pharmaceutical sciences The rapid developments in biotechnology and the applications of genetic engineering to practical human problems have allowed the advancement of pharmaceutical biotechnology at a…

1 Introduction Disinfectants, antiseptics and preservatives are chemical agents that have the ability to destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. They play a major role in medical and health…

1 Introduction 1.1 Parasitism Parasitism is a specific type of interaction between two organisms that has many features in common with other infectious processes, but host-parasite interactions often operate over…

1 Introduction There has long been a tendency, particularly in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, to regard microbes as harmful entities to be destroyed. However, as will be described in…

1.Introduction The small1est free-living microorganisms are the prokaryotes, comprising bacteria and archaea (see Chapter 2). Prokaryote is a term used to define cells that lack a true nuclear membrane; they…

1 Introduction The group of agents which comprises antiseptics, disinfectants, chemical sterilants and preservatives (often collectively called biocides) have frequently been classified as non-specific protoplasmic poisons. Such a broad generalization…

1 Introduction Viruses were first discovered at the end of the 19th century, although the symptoms they cause were identified much earlier. One of the earliest pieces of evidence is…