THE DEVELOPMENT OF PENICILLIN RICHARD H. LUCAS PHYSICS 001 PROJECT PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

WHAT IS PENICILLIN? PENICILLIN IS AN ANTIBIOTIC USED TO FIGHT INFECTIONS. THEY ALSO HAVE THE CAPABILITIES OF PREVENTING FUTURE. ONLY FOR BACTERIAL INFECTIONS, NOT VIRAL. WORKS BY STOPPING THE GROWTH OF BACTERIA THEN DESTROYS IT.

SOCIETY PRIOR TO PENICILLIN THERE WAS NO EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR INFECTIONS. COMMON INFECTIONS WITH NO TREATMENT INCLUDE: PNEUMONIA, GONORRHEA & RHEUMATIC FEVER. SIMPLE CUTS POSED A PROBLEM IF THEY BECAME INFECTED. EGYPTIANS APPLIED MOLDY BREAD TO WOUNDS IN BELIEF OF HEALING. SOCIETY PRIOR TO PENICILLIN ATTEMPTS AT ANTIBIOTICS IN HISTORY

THE FOUNDER OF PENICILLIN ALEXANDER FLEMING OF ENGLAND. PROFESSOR OF BACTERIOLOGY AT SAINT MARY’S HOSPITAL IN LONDON.

THE BIRTH OF PENICILLIN DISCOVERED IN 1928 BY COMPLETE ACCIDENCE. FOUND MOLD WHILE SORTING THROUGH PETRI DISHES AFTER THE HOLIDAYS. HE BEGAN EXPERIMENTING AND REALIZED IT KILLED A WIDE RANGE OF BACTERIA. HE THEN REFERRED TO IT AS “MOLD JUICE.’

THE BIRTH OF PENICILLIN (CONTINUED) ONLY THE OUTER PART OF THE MOLD KILLED BACTERIA. FLEMING THEN ASSIGNED HIS ASSISTANTS TO THE JOB OF ISOLATING THE PENICILLIN. THE PENICILLIN THEN BECAME VERY UNSTABLE. FLEMING PUBLISHED HIS FINDINGS TO SPARK THE IDEA FOR OTHER BACTERIOLOGISTS.

DEVELOPING ON FLEMINGS FINDINGS HOWARD FLOREY & ERNST CHAIN OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY BEGAN EXPERIMENTING. EVENTUALLY, THEY WERE ABLE TO TURN THE LAB CURIOSITY INTO A LIFE SAVING DRUG. FIRST PRACTICED ON MICE.

FIRST HUMAN CASE FEBRUARY 12 TH, YEAR OLD ALBERT ALEXANDER BECAME THE FIRST RECIPIENT. INJURED ON THE SIDE OF HIS MOUTH, HE DEVELOPED A LIFE THREATENING INFECTION. AFFECTED HIS EYES, FACE, & LUNGS. PENICILLIN WAS INJECTED AND WITHIN DAYS HE WAS AT FULL HEALTH. CREATING MASS VOLUMES OXFORD LABORATORY WAS TURNED INTO A PENICILLIN FACTORY HAD TO OVERCOME SEPERATING THE BASE MOLD AND THE PENICILLIN. NORMAN HEATLEY WAS IN CHARGE OF EXTRACTING IT AT MASSIVE VOLUMES

IMPACT OF THE MASS PENICILLIN WITH WW2 IN THE ERA, PENICILLIN WAS HUGE WITH HELPING WOUNDED MEN ON THE BATTLEFIELD. HEATLEY TRAVELED TO THE U.S SEEKING HELP IN LARGE SCALE PRODUCTION. IT BEGAN TO SPREAD INTO PRODUCTION IN THE U.S IN THE SUMMER OF 1941.

DISEASES CURED BY PENICILLIN TODAY CHLAMYDIA STOMACH ULCERS ABSCESSES LEPTOSPIROSIS LYME DISEASE TYPHOID FEVER GANGRENE.

CITATION AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARKS. DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PENICILLIN. LEMINGPENICILLIN.HTML (ACCESSED MARCH 1, 2014).