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. 2019 Oct 18;7:277. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00277

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Copyright © 2019 Fernandes, Carvalho and Lanceros-Mendez.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Schematic representation of (A) the timeline for the development of bacterial resistance and (B) its impact on the natural flora present in human intestine. Previous to penicillin discovery in 1940 bacteria-causing infections killed millions of people but the microbiome of our gut were “untouched” and widely “crowded” by harmless microbes (flora). After 1940, the introduction of antibiotics allowed to cure previously deadly diseases and saved a large amount of lives, extending life span and allowing further medical procedures. Nevertheless, the constant application of antibiotics soon resulted in antibiotic resistant strains. Harmless microbes from the flora in our guts are also killed giving space for the resistant strains to proliferate.