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Warfare was the most significant factor in the development of penicillin
Alexander fleming and antibiotics
Research paper on penicillin
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Penicillin, an antibiotic agent, helps cure many people of infectious diseases. It was one of the first antibiotics discovered and continues to save many lives. Penicillin played a vital role in medicine throughout history and still does today. Many important events led to the discovery, early development, and later development of penicillin, along with the help of scientists Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, and Andrew J. Moyer.
The discovery of penicillin, in 1928, was purely by accident. It was discovered by bacteriologist Alexander Fleming when he came back from vacation to his lab in London. He had left his lab in a mess and found that mold had grown on some plates he had left out in the open. Fleming noticed one plate in particular that had a ring around the mold. “After some experimentation, he found that the ring was bacteria-free, and that the mold was a rare spore called Penicillium notatum…” (Lane). Fleming grew the mold and discovered that it created a substance that had the property of killing many disease-causing bacteria. He named this substance penicillin and published his findings, noting that it may have value if produced in quantity
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Howard Florey, a scientist at the Oxford University. Florey, along with some of his colleagues, began research on penicillin and its properties in 1939. They brought a small dose of penicillin to the Peoria Lab in the U.S. to begin their work. “Pumping air into deep vats containing corn steep liquor and the addition of other key ingredients was shown to produce faster growth and larger amounts of penicillin than the previous surface-growth method” (Bellis). Florey found an easier way to process penicillin rapidly and in larger amounts, saving time and money. After his discovery, the drug was mass-produced and used on the war front, saving many lives (Connors). Without Florey’s achievement, penicillin would never have become the antibiotic used
The Factor of War in the Development of Penicillin The discovery, development and subsequent use of penicillin can be considered to be one of the most important breakthroughs in medical history. There were many factors, which were involved in the development of penicillin, and it could be argued that war was the most important, but other factors were also responsible. Alexander Fleming was working in London as a bacteriologist in 1928 when he noticed that a growth of a mould called penicillin produced a substance that actually killed the germs he was working on. He realised that this might be very important and a year later he wrote an article about his findings. However, Fleming did not have the facilities or the support to develop and test his idea that penicillin could fight infection, and he didn't develop it further.
Adegoke AA, Tom M, Okoh AI, Jacob S (2010) Studies on multiple antibiotic resistant bacterial isolated from surgical site infection. Scient Res. Essays 5:3876-81.
Years later other scientists were also intrigued by the possibilities of penicillin and produced enough penicillin to prove that it was a useable antibiotic. The scientists from Great Britain were developing all of this during World War II, and unfortunately funding for their drug was unavailable due to the war. They decided to bring their concepts to the United States, and once enough was made, it was eventually used, to treat wounded soldiers during World War I.
My disease is Streptococcal pneumonia or pneumonia is caused by the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is present in human’s normal flora, which normally doesn’t cause any problems or diseases. Sometimes though when the numbers get too low it can cause diseases or upper respiratory tract problems or infections (Todar, 2008-2012). Pneumonia caused by this pathogen has four stages. The first one is where the lungs fill with fluid. The second stage causes neutrophils and red blood cells to come to the area which are attracted by the pathogen. The third stage has the neutrophils stuffed into the alveoli in the lungs causing little bacteria to be left over. The fourth stage of this disease the remaining residue in the lungs are take out by the macrophages. Aside from these steps pneumonia follows, if the disease should persist further, it can get into the blood causing a systemic reaction resulting in the whole body being affected (Ballough). Some signs and symptoms of this disease are, “fever, malaise, cough, pleuritic chest pain, purulent or blood-tinged sputum” (Henry, 2013). Streptococcal pneumonia is spread through person-to-person contact through aerosol droplets affecting the respiratory tract causing it to get into the human body (Henry, 2013).
Penicillin became the first manufactured antibiotic after physician Alexander Fleming published articles regarding this bacteria-disabling mold in 1928. Come 1932, penicillin was commonly used to treat infected war injuries, saving the lives of unnumbered soldiers (Lewis). Since then, penicillin has become a popular treatment for numerous infections ranging from respiratory illness to syphilis. As society realized the benefits of penicillin, physicians began producing antibiotics to fight an infinite number of illnesses.... ... middle of paper ...
In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, discovered the first natural antibiotic: Penicillin. All of you reading this have at some point in time made use of his discovery. Penicillin antibiotics were among the first drugs to be effective against many previously serious diseases, such as syphilis and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Antibiotics in general remain one of the cornerstones of modern health care, acting as something we all hope to rely on when we get sick. We could very easily name the 20th century “the age of the antibiotic,” and it would be well deserved, indeed. But time is running out.
What does penicillin treat? There are several different kinds of penicillins, and they treat infections caused by bacteria. Each is used to treat different kinds of infections, and one kind of penicillin usually cannot be used to replace another. In addition, bacterial infections in many different parts of the body are treated with penicillins that work by killing the bacteria or preventing their growth. They are sometimes given with other antibacterial medicines.
Penicillin is the reason people lived healthy and long lives. Sick, cold, and sore, are feelings people have when they are sick. If people were to become sick and penicillin was not around they would have those feelings for a longer duration. Penicillin was an idea that belonged to a famous scientist by the name of Sir Alexander Fleming. Penicillin was just the slightest of idea in Fleming’s mind after he married his wife who had the profession of a nurse. Fleming made penicillin after conducting test on accidentally infected fungus inhabited plates. He tried washing the fungus of with disinfectant, then he noticed a yellow-green zone around the fungus. He came up with the conclusion that penicillin’s main goal would be to eliminate the outer weak ring
Ernest Chain and Howard Florey with the knowledge of Flemings work were able to successfully purify an extract of penicillin for testing. The tested it in 1940 on mice, they concluded that those who were given the penicillin lived whereas the others did not. Later in 1945 all three men received the Nobel Prize for their contr...
Accidents happens all the time. Whether it’s car issues or just simply dropping something, it’s part of our everyday life. Some end up with consequences, while others could lead to something amazing. Something like penicillin. For Fleming, he left his workplace a mess and poof, the birth of penicillin. Penicillin wasn’t always a widely used medicine. It first began as a minor discovery, which soon lead to research on its benefits & uses and also mass production of the mold.
Penicillin, derived from the mold Penicillium, is the first antibiotic to successfully treat bacterial infections on humans. It was accidentally discovered by scientist, Alexander Fleming. While Fleming was growing Staphylococcus, a serious and often deadly infection, in a dish, he noticed the bacteria had stopped growing after a mold found its way
His second major discovery, and most probably his most famous, was on September of 1928. After a month away with family, Fleming returned to his lab, where he found that his culture of Staphylococcus aureus had been contaminated with a mold. The colonies of Staphylococcus aureus surrounding the mold, however, had been eliminated. Fleming decided to put the “mold juice” (now called penicillin) through a series of antibacterial tests. While at first Fleming thought penicillin to be a strong lysosome, he later found it to be an antibacterial property.
Discovery and Development of Penicillin. (2014, April 4). Retrieved from American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical Landmarks: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html
Alexander Fleming started the history of antibiotics in the 1920's with his discovery of penicillin.When penicillin was first discovered and used widely, it was touted as a wonder drug, and consequently was used as one.Though not necessarily harmful to the patient penicillin was used for much more infections than it was able to combat.Today the same practice is observed in the medical profession, however at this point it is due more to the detriment of an uneducated public.Studies have been carried out that show the huge over usage of antibiotics.In the seventies Soyka et al, concluded, "60% of physicians surveyed gave antibiotics for the treatment of the common cold."[3], and by common knowledge the common cold is a virus, something that cannot be treated by an antibiotic.Nyquist
The discovery of antibiotics is attributed to Alexander Fleming who discovered the first antibiotic to be commercially used (Penicillin) in approximately 1928. An antibiotic, also known as an antimicrobial, is a medication that is taken in order to either destroy or slow the growth rate of bacteria. Antibiotics are integral to the success of many medical practises, such as; surgical procedures, organ transplants, the treatment of cancer and the treatment of the critically ill. (Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2013)