An important premise that we as healthcare practitioners have subscribed to is one that indicates that antibiotics kill bacteria but cause no harm to our body’s cells. But new research is challenging this idea. In a recent report appearing in the journal Translational Medicine, researchers revealed that some of our most commonly used antibiotics are actually toxic to mitochondria, the small bacteria-like particles that live within each of our bodies. Exposure to antibiotics of various types has now been demonstrated to damage mitochondria and at the same time increase the formation of toxic free radicals that can further damage tissue, including protein, fat, and DNA.