the development of penicillin richard h. lucas physics 001 project pennsylvania state university
TRANSCRIPT
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 12TH, 1941
• 43 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.