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Unlocking the Therapeutic Potential of Microorganisms in Revolutionizing Pharmaceuticals

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Microbiology-2.0 Update for a Sustainable Future

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Abstract

Understanding how different microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) interact with human cells and how they operate is crucial because it aids in the development of antimicrobial medications that can fend off a variety of communicable diseases. Microbes are used in research and development to study various diseases and developed new treatments for them. In the creation of antibiotics, vaccines, and steroids over the years, microbes have been at the centre of the pharmaceutical industry (Gupta, J., Rathour, R., Medhi, K., Tyagi, B. and Thakur, I.S., 2020. Microbial-derived natural bioproducts for a sustainable environment: a bioprospective for waste to wealth. In Refining biomass residues for sustainable energy and bioproducts (pp. 51–85). Academic Press.). The pharmaceutical business uses a variety of microorganism types as a line of defence against other pathogenic microbes. Medicines and drugs are produced using bacterial and fungi cultures. The culture mediums can be solid, liquid or gel. Pharmaceutical microbiology places a lot of emphasis on the safety of medications and other drugs. It's crucial to prevent harmful bacteria, fungi, moulds, and the toxins they create from contaminating the medications. In the pharmaceutical sector, it's critical to understand how medications will respond to microbial contamination. This enables us to determine the medications’ effectiveness. Following pharmacopeial guidelines, microbiological contamination of medications, injectables, eye drops, nasal solutions, and inhalation products is prevented. A significant amount of waste is generated from the pharmaceutical industry which has an adverse impact on both the environment and human health. Microorganisms at used to bioremediation hazardous compounds into non-hazardous substances. For bioremediation, it is important to select the appropriate microorganisms and provide them with optimised growth conditions so that the degradation of contaminants can be maximised. There is a lot of scope for the use of microorganisms in the field of pharmaceuticals. Intense research and development on microorganisms can bring in revolutionary changes in pharmaceuticals.

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Acknowledgements

Author “Akarsh Verma” is grateful to the monetary support provided by the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES)-SEED Grant program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Shreya

  2. Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences, Amity University, Noida, 201303, India

    Juhi Gupta

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, 248007, India

    Akarsh Verma

  4. Department of Mechanical Science and Bioengineering, Osaka University, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan

    Akarsh Verma

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Correspondence to Juhi Gupta .

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  1. Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences, Amity University, Noida, India

    Juhi Gupta

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India

    Akarsh Verma

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Shreya, Gupta, J., Verma, A. (2024). Unlocking the Therapeutic Potential of Microorganisms in Revolutionizing Pharmaceuticals. In: Gupta, J., Verma, A. (eds) Microbiology-2.0 Update for a Sustainable Future. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9617-9_7

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