CDS Biology · Microbiology and Disease
Vaccines, Antibiotics and AYUSH
Who gave medicine the vaccine and the antibiotic, how penicillin kills bacteria and why antibiotics do nothing to a virus, and the AYUSH systems with their national institutes.
Why this matters
Six CDS questions from 2019 (II) to 2024 (II). Three are about the AYUSH systems, and two of those are HARD: a match of national institutes with cities, and a statement about the Ministry of Ayush. The other three ask about Jenner, penicillin and why a vaccine works where an antibiotic fails.
Concept 1 of 3: Vaccines and the scientists behind them
Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who had caught mild cowpox did not catch smallpox. In 1796 he put cowpox material into a boy and showed that the boy was then safe from smallpox. That was the first vaccine. A vaccine gives the body a harmless form of a germ, so the immune system learns to recognise it and is ready if the real germ ever comes.
Definition
Immunisation (NCERT Class 9 and 12):
- A vaccine holds killed or weakened germs, or parts of them. The immune system makes antibodies and memory cells, so a later infection is fought off quickly. This is active immunity.
- Edward Jenner (1796): the smallpox vaccine from cowpox; he introduced immunisation (the word vaccine comes from vacca, Latin for cow).
- Louis Pasteur: vaccines against rabies and anthrax; pasteurisation.
- Robert Koch: found the bacteria of tuberculosis and cholera.
- Smallpox was eradicated worldwide by vaccination (declared in 1980).
- Robert Hooke (who named the cell) and Carl Linnaeus (who named species) had nothing to do with immunisation.
| Scientist | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Edward Jenner | Smallpox vaccine (1796); immunisationQ CDS 2020 (I): Edward Jenner introduced immunisation to medicine. |
| Louis Pasteur | Rabies and anthrax vaccines; pasteurisation |
| Robert Koch | Bacteria of tuberculosis and cholera |
| Alexander Fleming | Penicillin (1928) |
| Robert Hooke | Saw and named the cell (1665) |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2020 · CDS (I) 2020 — General Knowledge · Q30Easy
Example 1 · Microbiology and Disease · Vaccines, Antibiotics and AYUSH
Who among the following scientists introduced the concept of immunization to the medical world?
Jenner for vaccines, Koch for germs
Jenner began immunisation with the smallpox vaccine. Koch identified the germs of tuberculosis and cholera, and Pasteur made later vaccines such as rabies. Hooke and Linnaeus are not connected with medicine.
Concept 2 of 3: How antibiotics work
An antibiotic kills bacteria by jamming a job that bacteria do and our cells do not. Many bacteria build a tough wall around themselves, and penicillin stops that wall from being built, so the bacteria burst. Our own cells have no wall, so penicillin leaves them alone. A virus has no such machinery of its own at all; it borrows the host cell's. So there is nothing for an antibiotic to block.
Definition
Antibiotics (NCERT Class 9):
- An antibiotic is a substance, first found in microbes, that kills or stops bacteria.
- Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming (1928) in the mould Penicillium, a fungus. It blocks the building of the bacterial cell wall. Human cells have no cell wall, so it does not harm them.
- Antibiotics do not work against viruses: a virus does not use the biochemical pathways an antibiotic blocks; it uses the host cell's machinery. So an antibiotic does not cure a cold.
- A vaccine works against a virus because it boosts the immune system to fight it.
- Using antibiotics when they are not needed helps bacteria become resistant to them.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who discovered penicillin? | Alexander Fleming, 1928, from the mould Penicillium |
| What does penicillin block? | Building of the bacterial cell wall |
| Why is penicillin safe for us? | Human cells have no cell wall |
| Why does an antibiotic not cure a viral disease? | A virus has no pathways of its own for the antibiotic to blockQ CDS 2021 (I): a virus does not use pathways an antibiotic can block, but a vaccine boosts immunity against it. |
| What happens when antibiotics are overused? | Bacteria become resistant |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2020 · CDS (II) 2020 — General Knowledge · Q110Moderate
Example 2 · Microbiology and Disease · Vaccines, Antibiotics and AYUSH
Antibiotic such as penicillin blocks
Penicillin blocks the wall, not DNA or RNA
Penicillin stops bacteria from building their cell wall. It does not block DNA or RNA synthesis, and it does not act by stopping division directly.
Antibiotics fail on viruses for a reason of pathways
The reason is not that antibiotics break only RNA or that vaccines are proteins. A virus simply has no biochemical pathway of its own for an antibiotic to block, while a vaccine trains the immune system.
Concept 3 of 3: AYUSH systems of medicine
Besides modern medicine, India recognises several traditional systems, grouped under the name AYUSH and run by the Ministry of Ayush. Each has a national institute in a different city. Learn the systems, where each came from, and the city of each institute.
Definition
The AYUSH systems:
- AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. The Ministry of AYUSH was formed in 2014.
- Sowa-Rigpa, the Tibetan or Amchi system practised in the Himalayan regions (Ladakh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh), was added in 2010, the latest system to be recognised. The name AYUSH did not change.
- Ayurveda: the old Indian system; its classics are the Charaka Samhita (medicine) and the Sushruta Samhita (surgery).
- Unani: came from Greece through Arab and Persian physicians.
- Siddha: a holistic system from Tamil Nadu.
- Homoeopathy: founded by Samuel Hahnemann of Germany.
- Reiki is not an AYUSH system.
| System | National institute |
|---|---|
| Ayurveda | National Institute of Ayurveda, JaipurQ CDS 2019 (II): Ayurveda Jaipur, Homoeopathy Kolkata, Unani Bengaluru, Siddha Chennai. |
| Homoeopathy | National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata |
| Unani | National Institute of Unani Medicine, BengaluruQ CDS 2024 (II): the false statement is that Unani has been dissociated from the Ministry of Ayush; it is still one of its systems. |
| Siddha | National Institute of Siddha, Chennai |
| Sowa-Rigpa | National Institute of Sowa Rigpa, Leh |
| Yoga | Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi |
| Naturopathy | National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2020 · CDS (I) 2020 — General Knowledge · Q113Moderate
Example 3 · Microbiology and Disease · Vaccines, Antibiotics and AYUSH
Which one of the following is the latest addition to the AYUSH group of health care system?
Sowa-Rigpa is in AYUSH, Reiki is not
Sowa-Rigpa joined in 2010 even though the name AYUSH has no letter for it. Reiki is not one of the recognised systems.
Jaipur and Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai
Ayurveda is at Jaipur and Homoeopathy at Kolkata. Unani is at Bengaluru, and Siddha, the Tamil system, at Chennai. The south Indian pair is the one most often swapped.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Vaccines and the scientists behind them5 rows
| Scientist | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Edward Jenner | Smallpox vaccine (1796); immunisationQ CDS 2020 (I): Edward Jenner introduced immunisation to medicine. |
| Louis Pasteur | Rabies and anthrax vaccines; pasteurisation |
| Robert Koch | Bacteria of tuberculosis and cholera |
| Alexander Fleming | Penicillin (1928) |
| Robert Hooke | Saw and named the cell (1665) |
How antibiotics work5 rows
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who discovered penicillin? | Alexander Fleming, 1928, from the mould Penicillium |
| What does penicillin block? | Building of the bacterial cell wall |
| Why is penicillin safe for us? | Human cells have no cell wall |
| Why does an antibiotic not cure a viral disease? | A virus has no pathways of its own for the antibiotic to blockQ CDS 2021 (I): a virus does not use pathways an antibiotic can block, but a vaccine boosts immunity against it. |
| What happens when antibiotics are overused? | Bacteria become resistant |
AYUSH systems of medicine7 rows
| System | National institute |
|---|---|
| Ayurveda | National Institute of Ayurveda, JaipurQ CDS 2019 (II): Ayurveda Jaipur, Homoeopathy Kolkata, Unani Bengaluru, Siddha Chennai. |
| Homoeopathy | National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata |
| Unani | National Institute of Unani Medicine, BengaluruQ CDS 2024 (II): the false statement is that Unani has been dissociated from the Ministry of Ayush; it is still one of its systems. |
| Siddha | National Institute of Siddha, Chennai |
| Sowa-Rigpa | National Institute of Sowa Rigpa, Leh |
| Yoga | Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi |
| Naturopathy | National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune |
Watch out for (5)
- Jenner for vaccines, Koch for germs→ Vaccines and the scientists behind them
- Penicillin blocks the wall, not DNA or RNA→ How antibiotics work
- Antibiotics fail on viruses for a reason of pathways→ How antibiotics work
- Sowa-Rigpa is in AYUSH, Reiki is not→ AYUSH systems of medicine
- Jaipur and Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai→ AYUSH systems of medicine
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