Next time you're sick, double-check with your doctor to ensure an antibiotic is necessary. If it is, follow the prescription instructions to kill the bacteria and prevent mutation.

In the US, 70 percent of all antibiotics sold are used to fight off infections in livestock and increase their growth. Antibiotics are used in the farming of fish, shrimp, and fruits like apples, pears, and citrus.

• An agriculture student-turned-microbiologist, Selman Waksman, tested 10,000 soil samples over the years.
• In 1943, he identified streptomycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic effective against tuberculosis.
• Drug companies caught on to it, and commissioned pilots, explorers, an...

A 2019 report from the World Health Organization pointed out that at least 700,000 people are dying of drug-resistant diseases each year.

Artificial intelligence has helped to find the first new broad-spectrum antibiotic, named Halicin.

Antibiotics work by attacking a bacteria cell. If the bacteria are not killed, the cell will fight for survival. The use of an antibiotic then increases the possibility of a bacteria cell mutating to gain resistance.

Over the last 40 years, few new antibiotics were discovered. At the same time, bacteria are developing antibiotic resistance, where antibiotics are less able to damage the cells of bacteria.

According to the US Center for Disease Control, 30 percent of antibiotic prescriptions in the US are unnecessary.

Antibiotics may lose their ability to treat bacterial infections.