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The Discovery of Penicillin

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The Discovery of Penicillin
Today we often take for granted just going to the doctor and getting medicine to fix any illness we may have or pain that we are feeling. There hasn’t always been the privileges that we have today, back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s it wasn’t uncommon for people and children to die from just a minor scratch, pinpricks, scarlet fever, or any minor diseases. Hospitals were full of people with infections spiraling out of control, but there wasn’t anything available for them. Our soldiers fighting for our freedom were destined to perish due to gangrene and amputations from battle wounds, the conditions were unsanitary and the simple dose of an antibiotic was unheard of. It is hard for our civilization to appreciate the medical advancements we have today due to the invention of penicillin, the medical miracle. Penicillin was considered the miracle cure when it was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and it saved several lives including our soldiers but have we abused this medical miracle? However, it is imperative for our civilization to understand how penicillin was invented, the war it saved, and the resistance that it has sir come. Alexander Fleming was born in Ayshire in the lowlands of southwestern Scotland (Sir Alexander Fleming-Biography). Fleming was obsessed with the body’s fight with infection and he became a professor at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School on September 1, 1928 he taught bacteriology (Saeed). However, Fleming had continued to do research on the bacterium that causes staph infections in the blood stream and was trying to figure out a cure for it (Streble). Fleming was considered to be quite the “packrat”; he refused to throw anything away. One day, Fleming noticed blue fungal spores growing on one of his unwashed petri dishes (Wilson). Fleming almost destroyed the culture until he realized that all the staph bacteria had been eliminated. September1928 marked the discovery of penicillin; he seized the moment and changed


Cited: "Antibiotic Resistance." Rapid Identification of Antibiotic Resistance. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://www.accelr8.com/print.php?id=54>. Criswell, Ph.D., Daniel. "The "Evolution" of Antibiotic Resistance." The Institute for Creation Research. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.icr.org/article/evolution-antibiotic-resistance>. Henry, Celia. "Chemical & Engineering News: Top Pharmaceuticals: Penicillin." ACS Publications - Cookie Absent. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/8325/8325penicillin.html?print>. "Medicine and World War Two." History Learning Site. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medicine_and_world_war_two.htm>. Saeed, Prof Dr. Sheikh Arshad. "Breakthrough: Penicillin’s Impact on Humanity-DAWN Science; November 12, 2005." DAWN.COM | Home | Latest News, Pakistan, World, Business, Cricket and Multimedia. 12 Nov. 2005. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://www.dawn.com/weekly/science/archive/051112/science “Sir Alexander Fleming - Biography." Nobelprize.org. 1964. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming-bio.html>. e6.htm>. Streble, Susan. "The Evolution of Resistance to Penicillin." Allegheny College: Webpub. 12 Dec. 2001. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/r/rmumme/FS101/ResearchPapers/SusanStreble.html>. Wilson, Richard. "Penicillin Overuse Puts Fleming 's Legacy at Risk." The Sunday Times. 07 Sept. 2008. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://www.timesonline.co.uk>.
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