Final answer:
A substance that starts as a natural antibiotic and is chemically altered to improve its properties is called a semisynthetic antibiotic. These modified drugs are key components in fighting infectious diseases and are part of the efforts to address the antibiotic crisis, which is marked by increasing resistance of bacteria to existing antibiotics.
Step-by-step explanation:
Semisynthetic Antibiotics
The term that describes a substance that begins as a natural product of metabolism (antibiotic) but is tweaked to enhance some property or broaden the spectrum is known as a semisynthetic antibiotic. These are antimicrobial drugs that have been chemically modified to improve their efficacy or spectrum of activity against microorganisms.
For instance, a scientist may discover an antibiotic produced by a soil bacterium that initially kills only gram-negative bacteria. By altering a chemical side chain, the molecule can be modified, resulting in an agent with broad-spectrum activity that can now also target gram-positive bacteria.
These modifications typically involve the addition or alteration of functional groups within the molecule to improve characteristics such as potency, stability, or resistance to enzymatic degradation.
Semisynthetic derivatives are distinct from fully synthetic antibiotics, which are entirely man-made, and natural antibiotics which are directly extracted from the organisms that produce them.
The creation of semisynthetic antibiotics is crucial in the ongoing battle against infectious diseases, especially in the face of rising antibiotic resistance in various microbial populations.
The Antibiotic Crisis refers to the growing concern within the healthcare community about antibiotics becoming less effective.
This is due to the emergence of superbugs that have developed resistance to existing treatments, thus challenging the current paradigm of infectious disease control and prompting the development of new antibiotics, whether natural, semisynthetic, or synthetic in nature.