Antibiotics – Biology and Chemistry BIOR56

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global challenge. This course provides basic knowledge about what antibiotics are, where they come from, how they work, and how new antibiotics are discovered.

Overview

This advanced course offers an in-depth understanding of antibiotics from both biological and chemical perspectives. You will learn about the role of antibiotics in nature, how they are synthesized, and their mechanisms of action. You will also get an understanding for how resistance develops and spreads, and what consequences that has for our possibilities to treat infectious diseases. The course is relevant for those who wish to work in fields such as environmental biology, medicine, pharmacology, biotechnology, and policy.

Teaching and learning

The teaching consists of lectures, group exercises, some laboratory work, a discussion seminar, and a literature project that is presented both in written form and orally. You will use a textbook, distributed materials, and scientific articles as course literature. The course addresses fundamental questions and problems regarding antibiotics and provides you with a comprehensive understanding of their biology and chemistry, and the evolution of resistance and its consequences.