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Discovery of penicillin
Was the discovery of penicillin microbiology
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“Antibiotic sensitivity tests showed that the two groups differed in sensitivity to penicillin and erythromycin, but no other antibiotics.” (Article abstract).Out of the nine hundred samples they took, the group showed the bacteria was defeated by the antibiotic penicillin and the antibiotic erythromycin but the other antibiotics didn’t touch the bacteria. The experiment showed people only two antibiotics were fighting off the bacteria. The two of which are being over used and over time will no longer work. If the bacteria continues to grow bigger and better, the antibiotics for ear infections aren’t going to work which leads to hearing loss, even to the extent of going
The war also affected the mass production of penicillin. The military had no other way of treating infection quickly or any other wounds so it was vital for penicillin to be abundant. All in all this time was one of the most influential time during technology and all other advancements in the current time. Could imagine life without the things we have today? Bird, Kai, and Martin J. Sherwin. "
While looking through petri dishes containing “colonies” of a bacteria that caused boils, sore throats and abscesses, Alexander Fleming found that one petri dish had a mold growth that appeared to hinder bacterial growth (“Discovery and Development of Penicillin”). Fleming established that this mold had the ability to eliminate harmful bacteria, including the bacteria that he was originally researching, before tasking his assistants with isolating “pure penicillin” (“Discovery and Development of Penicillin”). Rickets, a disease that softens the bones in children due to vitamin D deficiency, was much more prominent back then compared to modern times. This is due to the discovery of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is historic for its ability to prevent Rickets which had been around for hundred of years
Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was a physician in England who studied the spread and inoculation techniques formerly unknown for small pox. In this paper I will explain the thought process and the happenings by which Jenner discovered the relationship between small pox and cowpox via transmission to milkmaids, the process by which he tested his findings and proved the relationship with inoculations, and how he communicated his findings based on his work titled “An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, or Cow-Pox”. In the 18th century smallpox killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans (Bourzac). Variolation was a technique used to inoculate people from diseases in that time.
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who came to the United States with his family at the age of 13. He had little formal education; however, his family believed in the importance of books. His family raised him in Allegheny PA where he worked himself up from being a factory worker, to telegrapher operator, to assistant telegrapher, to eventually superintendent of the railroad (Andrew). While he was employed at the railroad, Carnegie began dabbling with investments in oil where he brought in substantial income (Rags). Because of the huge success, he left the railroad industry to focus on other business ventures like the Keystone Bridge Company and Keystone Telegraph Company (installation of telegraph wiring in railroad tracks).
Most important was a wide increase in usage of penicillin. Even though it had been developed pre-war, it took the whole WWI and inter-war period to make it an effective medicine on industrial scale. In GB it was hugely used after D-Day (1944) and increased survivability of wounded soldiers by 30%. The percentage was that huge due to the fact that it took often not less than 12-14h after being wounded until the solder was being operated; with use of penicillin, such a period allowed a wound to fester. Moreover, the operative treatment developed as well.
Moreover, Penicillin, a group of antibiotics, was discovered during this time, specifically in the 1928s by Alexander Fleming (ACS, 2023). Although the first dose of penicillin was used in 1941 by Albert Alexander, it was still a life-changing discovery as it changed the lives of many - even after the period of 1918s1939s (Wood, 2010). The discovery of penicillin allowed a lot of life-threatening diseases to be treated, such as bronchitis, tonsillitis, and pneumonia. Penicillin is known to save millions of lives. Indeed, in just World War Two, the death rate because of bacterial pneumonia would go from 18% to 1%, because of the invention of penicillin.
Another medication developed was penicillin. “Before the widespread use of antibiotics like penicillin in the United States, even small cuts and scrapes could lead to deadly infections.” (Little, 2021). This is why penicillin was such a good thing. Now soldiers didn’t have to worry as much if they got wounded in battle.
Louis Pasteur had 3 of his 5 children die from Typhoid fever. This may have been a catalyst to his work but he also asked questions and sought answers. One specific question, `By analogy, is it unreasonable to hope that the day will come when easily administered preventive measures will be able to stop the scourges which terrify and decimate populations, such as yellow fever and the bubonic plague?' (Pasteur 1879). He questioned where yeast came from, why certain chickens died and others lived, and if weaker strains of disease could prevent one from getting sick.
Amid Alexander Fleming 's Nobel discourse he said, "After I finished my research, biochemist Dorothy Crawfort Hodkin used x-rays to determine the atomic structure and molecular shape of penicillin. " (Fleming,2)Dr. C.G. Paine, dermatologist Albert Nutt were two famous doctors who used Hodkin’s research to develop several startling cures with the new substance as early as 1930 (Krebs,23) All of the fresh out of the box new research and the newfound properties of penicillin brought these new anti biotics which cured maladies that were very common, which balanced out various sorts of microbes. The life expectancy of the urban population increased by 3 years.
The greatest hero of World War II may come as a surprise. Penicillin is responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives from infectious diseases during the war. Penicillin took a while to become a widely used medicine, but its effects were revolutionary. To lead off, the first discovery of penicillin was made by Alexander Fleming. This monumental discovery happened to have been found and created by accident.
Davies & Davies (2010) suggests that by applying evolutionary theory to bacteria, we knew that when a selective pressure was introduced (antibiotics) the bacteria would evolve and understanding this enabled biomedical scientists to invent strategies such as not using antibiotics to treat viral infection because antibiotics will not destroy the viruses present but will introduce a selective pressure on the bacteria within your body causing some of them to develop an antibiotic resistance which could be a problem if they cause an infection one day, another strategy would be to avoid using mild does of antibiotics of a long period of time as this would leave a small number of bacteria, who would have survived the antibiotics, who could potentially develop a resistance to the antibiotic so using a stronger selective pressure over a shorter space of time would eliminate all the illness-causing bacteria and not enable them to evolve into their resistant forms also make sure that all the prescription is taken because if the course is not complete then the bacteria that have a selective advantage will survive and then will pass on this advantage to other bacteria. The “preventative” use of antibiotics within livestock and crops is unnecessary as this leads to
He discovered that the mold stopped Staphylococcus from growing. Fleming decided to name the bacteria killing mold substance penicillin. Alexander Fleming said, “When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did” (Biography.com Editors). After his discovery he spent most of his time trying to grow more of the fungus.
The theory of evolution also has a purpose in today’s world, more specifically in the study of organism’s immunity. Today antibiotics are very common, their main use is to get rid of viral infections. Although, scientists are finding, due to overusing antibiotics many viruses are becoming resistant to them. The more antibiotics get used the more bacteria and viruses become resistant to antibiotics and soon bacteria and viruses will resist all antibiotics. (“Frequently Asked Questions…” np).
In part two of chapter five is all about Robert Boyle’s discoveries. One of Boyle’s experiments made him believe that he had created gold by combining silver, mercury, or lead to make something that had the appearance of gold. What he didn’t know is that he actually created iron pyrite, also known as fool 's gold because of its appearance. In 1689, Boyle believed to be closer to discovering the secret and did eventually succeeded in making a red powder but when he died in 1691 Isaac Newton wrote to John Locke asking him if he could find the powder and send it to him. He did eventually find it but had to write again because he didn’t known the use for it.