Penicillin Discovery
Was the discovery of penicillin an accident? Who really discovered penicillin? Many believe that penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming, although he sparked the research for penicillin, he wasn’t the first. Penicillin had and still does have an effect on the medical world. Penicillin has a very rich history behind it, and it is still used world round. One significant story that led to the discovery of penicillin was the one of Alexander Fleming. Although Alexander Fleming is credited for the discovery of penicillin he wasn’t the first, it was first noticed by a French medical student Ernest Duchesne (Bellis, 123). The story goes that Fleming, who had a very messy lab, went on a one month vacation and left his lab supplies open. Lane
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claimed that when Fleming got back he noticed mold had grown around his lab (121). Fleming’s attention was drawn to a specific petri dish. The dish had a yellow-green mold, “When he peered into the dish, Fleming saw a ring around the mold,” said Lane (121). Another source, “The Discovery of Penicillin: The True Story” by Brittany Connors, suggested that mold got into the lab from the floor below was a mycology (study of mushrooms, molds, and yeasts) easily get inside and grow in the lab. Another event that led to the discovery of Penicillin was World War II. Another point in Penicillin’s history is World War II.
The war added a greater reason for new medicine, so in 1939, almost ten years after the re-discovery of Penicillin, Britain needed medicine and turned to the United States of America for help (Bellis 123). Many eager scientists were looking for an easy and cost efficient way of making and selling Penicillin; scientists at Oxford University, Howard Florey and Norman Heatly, eventually found a way. Two years later in 1941 Florey and Heatly discovered an easy and low cost way of producing Penicillin, Bellis claims that they were, “pumping air into deep vats containing corn steep liquor (a non-alcoholic by-product of the wet milling process)” (124). This new medicine could help wounded soldiers with bacterial infections; the drug saved many lives of the time. Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming, and another scientist who helped Florey, Ernest Chain, all won the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Connors 126). Another scientist that helped mass produce Penicillin was Andrew Moyer; Moyer worked on ways to make the product easier to use and he made it more cost efficient, Bellis claims that, “the price dropped from nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946.” Furthermore, Penicillin could save so many people due to the fact that it is a bacteria
killer. In conclusion “Penicillin is one of the earliest discovered and widely used antibiotic agents, derived from the Penicillium mold,” (Bellis 123). Penicillin is the grandfather of antibiotics because of the fact that it was the first antibiotic made. Penicillin has changed and expanded the medical world.
claimed that when Fleming got back he noticed mold had grown around his lab (121). Fleming’s attention was drawn to a specific petri dish. The dish had a yellow-green mold, “When he peered into the dish, Fleming saw a ring around the mold,” said Lane (121). Another source, “The Discovery of Penicillin: The True Story” by Brittany Connors, suggested that mold got into the lab from the floor below was a mycology (study of mushrooms, molds, and yeasts) easily get inside and grow in the lab. Another event that led to the discovery of Penicillin was World War II. Another point in Penicillin’s history is World War II.
The war added a greater reason for new medicine, so in 1939, almost ten years after the re-discovery of Penicillin, Britain needed medicine and turned to the United States of America for help (Bellis 123). Many eager scientists were looking for an easy and cost efficient way of making and selling Penicillin; scientists at Oxford University, Howard Florey and Norman Heatly, eventually found a way. Two years later in 1941 Florey and Heatly discovered an easy and low cost way of producing Penicillin, Bellis claims that they were, “pumping air into deep vats containing corn steep liquor (a non-alcoholic by-product of the wet milling process)” (124). This new medicine could help wounded soldiers with bacterial infections; the drug saved many lives of the time. Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming, and another scientist who helped Florey, Ernest Chain, all won the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Connors 126). Another scientist that helped mass produce Penicillin was Andrew Moyer; Moyer worked on ways to make the product easier to use and he made it more cost efficient, Bellis claims that, “the price dropped from nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946.” Furthermore, Penicillin could save so many people due to the fact that it is a bacteria
killer. In conclusion “Penicillin is one of the earliest discovered and widely used antibiotic agents, derived from the Penicillium mold,” (Bellis 123). Penicillin is the grandfather of antibiotics because of the fact that it was the first antibiotic made. Penicillin has changed and expanded the medical world.