Asked • 04/09/19

Why does Penicillin only affect bacterial cell walls?

I was quite fascinated by the feature [Should Science Pull the Trigger on Antiviral Drugs—That Can Blast the Common Cold?](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/ff_antivirals/) in this month's Wired magazine.They explain that Penicillin is effective at killing bacteria because it interferes with the growth of bacterial cell walls.How does Penicillin do that exactly? And why does it not dissolve human cells as well?

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