2 The golden age of medicine

In this section you will learn about antibiotics: what they are, how they work and the important role they play in modern medicine but also modern life. Here, you will be introduced to the basic concepts that will be explained in more detail in other modules in this course.

After this section you will be able to:

• define the term ‘antibiotic’ and give examples
• describe how antibiotics work
• describe the role of antibiotics in modern medicine and modern life.