Penicillin Essay

PENICILLIN: THE WONDER DRUG

There are many different forms of antiseptics in the world today. One of the first effective antiseptic was penicillin. Penicillin was discovered in 1929 by Alexander Fleming. It was a complete accident. Penicillin became a very important drug during World War II. The importance of penicillin was not directly seen as it took years before a usable form would be developed. Penicillin, despite the setbacks, has led to many new discoveries. Manufacturing problems and disinterest after discovery plagued penicillin, and yet the newly discovered drug would do wonders for people. The story of the discovery of penicillin is well known. Alexander Fleming was conducting an experiment on a bacteria

Florey traveled with Heatley to the U.S. In the United States, Reid and others were already conducting their own experiments on penicillin. Florey and Heatley were directed to Charles Thom. Heatley teaches Thom how he developed a method to create a usable form of penicillin. However, he was missing a key ingredient but Thom suggested the use of a corn liquor. This corn liquor produced more penicillin than Heatley’s solution did. The manufacturing problem was solved just in time for a fire in Boston in 1942 that left many burned and some dead. The burned developed infections and were treated with penicillin. This was the first major large scale treatment with penicillin and it was a success. The burn victims became better. Shortly after this fire, the U.S. entered into WWII. The government took control of the production of penicillin. In the war, penicillin truly shined. Wounds that were infected were treated with penicillin. Many lives were saved. Lives that would have been lost due to infection were saved due to the penicillin’s ability to stop bacterial

There were people upset with Fleming receiving it but he does deserve credit. He discovered the strain of penicillin mold in which penicillin resided. The specific compounds in his mold were only found in two other samples. One was from Fleming himself and the other was on a rotting cantaloupe. The odds that the penicillin was discovered were very slim. He is also the first man to apply penicillin to an infection. His friend had an infection is his eye and was to participate in a shooting contest on a certain weekend. Fleming had no way of treating him other than use the penicillin broth. After Fleming administered the penicillin to his friend, the infection in the eye began to reduce. In a few days it was gone. Fleming recognized that penicillin was a powerful antiseptic as well. The reason many believed that he didn’t deserve it was that he was not responsible for the development of the stable concentration. While he was not part of process, he provided the groundwork and research necessary to create a concentration. He did have a hand in the development even if it was