Discuss The Discovery Of Teixobactin Assignment Paper (Essay Sample)

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Discovery of Teixobactin
Introduction
The discovery of teixobactin was one of the major scientific discoveries in 2015. It is important to evaluate the development regarding the ideas of Thomas Kuhn on what successful scientific discoveries should entail. The purpose of this paper is to prove that the development of teixobactin qualifies as a scientific discovery according to the provisions of Thomas Kuhn. The paper, therefore, will evaluate the scientific discovery in consideration of the paradigms associated with it. It will assess several elements of the scientific discovery to consider whether they are in line with Kuhn’s model of scientific discoveries. Even though most several inventions are not in line with Kuhn’s model of scientific discoveries, the innovation of teixobactin is per the model since it revolves around paradigms, the models do not depend on each other, and it considers normal and extraordinary science.
Background
Teixobactin, the newly discovered antibiotic was produced by a soil microorganism known as Eleftheria terrae. A new tool known as iChip that provided the environmental bacterium with favorable conditions to grow. The tool also helped the environmental bacterium to produce the antibiotic under favorable conditions. The favorable conditions favored the isolation of the antibiotic and later its identification. Teixobactin works against the Gram-positive mycobacteria and organisms. It is important to note that the antibiotic does not operate against Gram-negative organisms. It was tested in mice that were infected with Streptococcus pneumonia and MRSA. It was found that the antibiotic is effective as the bacterial load in the animal was significantly reduced. Many scientists have noted that the discovery has opened the way for other similar findings that may be effective since teixobactin is in its early development stages. The interest by most scientists to produce more natural antibiotics that are different from the currently existing ones facilitated the discovery of the antibiotic. Many researchers engaged in constant toil to discover an antibiotic that could serve several purposes and at the same time have original content. They then found the new antibiotic after 30 years of research on the antibiotic that could be useful than the currently existing ones. They claim that the antibiotic could be better than most of the existing ones that seem not to favor a broad range of fatal infections. Some of these common fatal infections include tuberculosis and pneumonia. The laboratory tests that have been done to evaluate the new antibiotic have shown that it can kill several bacteria just as the existing antibiotics and can even treat mice with bacterial infections without developing any harmful side effects. The studies also revealed that the antibiotic worked against harmful bacteria in a manner that is different from the existing antibiotics’. The unique way limits the chances of drug resistance. For several years, the limitation of drug resistance from the discovery of new medicines has been a stumbling block to the development of new antibiotics. The development of the new antibiotic, therefore, was considered a massive boost to the field of medicine. The development also helped to ease the idea that the world was running out of antibiotics that could work effectively without side effects registered. Professor Kim Lewis facilitated the discovery of the new antibiotic while operating in NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals that is based in Cambridge. During the development, the professor claimed that the first human trial would be started in 2017 and case it would be successful, the drug will be the most used in the world for ten years. The professor also noted that several pathogens that cause diseases have been acquiring resistance, and the discovery of the effective antibiotic could become handy because the test that has been done reveal that it is highly effective against several pathogens.
Comparison with Kuhn’s Model
The scientific discovery is in line with the Kuhn’s model of scientific discoveries regarding the manner in which it will be evaluated below. According to Kuhn, science is made up of several paradigms. He claims that scientific experiments are never random since they usually take time. He also argues that science experiments are typically done with an expected clear outcome. Regarding the discovery of the new antibiotic, teixobactin, the scientists carried out several experiments for almost 30 years to come up with it. They had in mind an outcome to expect. The scientists had done the research for the many years having in mind that they required an antibiotic that had desirable characteristics than the existing ones. Just as Kuhn claims that the paradigms depend on the manner in which knowledge gaps are filled and bridge the existing disconnects between reality and theory, the discovery of the antibiotic was in line with Kuhn line of thought since the scientist considered the use of both theory and reality to come up with the drug. Kuhn also claimed that the shifts in paradigms are important for scientists as they help them to view things in different ways. The team of researchers who discovered the antibiotic used both reality and science to come up with the drug. They then did a set of tests on the drug to validate its usefulness and through the tests that have been done, it was found out that the antibiotic is efficient and could be better than the existing ones.
According to Kuhn, scientists usually conduct experiments with the expected results in their minds. In a case where the results of a given tests appear to be more than what was expected, it is referred to as extraordinary science. Kuhn, therefore, claims that there is normal and extraordinary science. Regarding the discovery for the antibiotic, the scientists conducted research and found out that the unique way in which the antibiotic operated was extraordinary. They had hoped to get another antibiotic since there had been claims that existing antibiotics had been depleted. The discovered antibiotic had unique characteristics that make it better than the existing antibiotics, something that the team of scientists who discovered the antibiotic claim is because of extraordinary science. According to Kuhn, in extraordinary science, scientists usually perform tests to identify ideals and boundaries hence they do not try to solve somet...