Alexander Fleming And The Discovery Of Penicillin

Decent Essays
Do you know who,how or what happened to discover the bacteria,and medicine named penicillin ? Well their are many theories and stories but with the information gathered I think you’ll find your answer.
To start off with,the person who is credited for discovering the bacteria is a bacteriologist named Alexander Fleming. He discovered the bacteria when he left his laboratory a mess and went on a vacation,when he came back he had found that his dishes had mold and their was one plate that caught his eyes which was a small clean circle spot with no mold on it at all.He did some experiments and finally found out it was bacteria free which later on became known as penicillin that rare spot he had found on his dish was called penicillin notatum. In the passage “Not So-Dumb Luck”it states “...the most compelling fact about penicillin is that it went on to save hundreds of thousands of lives during World War II,and has continued to forestall infectious diseases ever since.”

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The first component is when Piatt mentions that, “she had back surgery and contracted a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection that required daily intravenous antibiotics”. This could have been the result of bacteria being resistant to the penicillin. In the article, “The Landscape of Antibiotic Resistance”, it is mentioned that, “The problem of antibiotic resistance has become widely known in large part because of the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)... most MRSA infections were contracted by hospital in-patients suffering from other underlying conditions”. As penicillin was invented in 1928.…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    That would spread to the wound and clean it of the bacteria. He could not produce enough of the penicillin to be used by others so his idea was dismissed. Ten years later another scientist rediscovered his works and brought it to the U.S. where it was so effective that they were able to mass produce it and use it throughout the war. Plasma created a protein salt solution, where the red and white blood cells are suspended. This serves as the proper vitamins that the blood needs to keep you alive.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Thompson supports this by using the anecdotal story of discovering penicillin. According to the story Ernest Duchesne, the original discoverer of penicillin conducted an experiment on a series of animals where he eventually found what is now a form of modern penicillin. His research disappeared and it would take thirty-two years for Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming to rediscover penicillin (60). This story on the surface substantiates Thompson’s claim because such a huge opportunity was missed in the medical field, but he uses an example that is not as applicable to the reader’s own…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some historians credit sulfanilamide with helping the Allied forces claim victory of World War II because it kept their soldiers healthy. Sir Alex Fleming, a bacteriologist form Scotland, discovered penicillin in 1906. Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey purified penicillin to use it for research trials on humans to be used as an antibiotic. The three men received a Nobel Prize for their work. Pfizer, a leading pharmaceutical company, mass produced penicillin to protect soldiers from wounds that could lead to infection and possibly gangrene.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Medicine After Ww2 Essay

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Called ‘M+B 693’ it was used as a treatment for sore throats, pneumonia, and gonorrhea. A development of ‘M+B 693’ was ‘M+B 760’. Both proved very effective as treatments against infections. However, the very nature of war meant that both treatments were needed in far greater quantities than during peacetime. While penicillin had been discovered pre-war by Sir Alexander Fleming, it took the war to force companies to develop a way of making the highly effective medicine on an industrial scale.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The end of the film stated, “there were no known adverse effects that resulted from the treatment of penicillin”. This makes me wonder if the notion that penicillin would harm or kill those patients that were in the latent stage of the disease was just another lie to justify the study or did the doctors really believe the treatment was harmful?…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After coming home from a vacation in 1928, Alexander Fleming saw something peculiar in one of his petri dishes. There was a ring that didn’t have any bacteria in it. This bacteria killer was called penicillium notatum, or Penicillin. While Alexander Fleming was away on his vacation, a rare mold spore landed in one of the petri dishes that Alexander left out. When Alexander came back, he didn’t notice anything right away.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War II Inventions

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Most of the many inventions from World War II are still in use today. Many lives were forever changed because of the new ideas brought to us during this time period. During World War II, many new inventions and innovations were created that impacted America forever. Many famous and important inventors created their most well-known creations during World War II. Inventions such as penicillin, the atomic bomb, and the microwave are only very few of the inventions that the mastermind inventors created during World War II.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    He attended 3 schools before moving to London including Louden Moor School, Darvel School, and Kilmarnock Academy. In London he attended Polytechnic School and St. Mary’s School. Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin in 1928. Penicillin was made from a Penicillium notatum mold. In 1940 we could use penicillin…

    • 113 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Medicine has been around since the 20th century and is still in use today. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that helps stop infections caused by bacteria. The first Antibiotic (Penicillin) was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928. Since the discovery of Penicillin many other antibiotics have been discovered. The development of antibiotics was an important innovation because it cured infections, treated patients during World War I with infections and burns that led to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From this video I learned that in 1928, Alexander Fleming was growing Staphylococcus in his lab, and mold appeared in the center of his plates because of his open window. I learned that this mold was penicillin and that it was the first true antibiotic, and as time progressed many bacteria had developed resistance to it. I learned that Christina a Historian, and Freya a microbiologist; were both interested in Bald’s Leacher books, which is an old healer’s hand book filled with potions and cures. I learned that they found a very interesting remedy called the “best medicine” for a sty in your eye which is caused by Staphylococcus aureus. I learned that they decided to try the remedy out, and what happen was that the recipe they created had killed…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first mass use of Penicillin was D-Day and was found to be very effective on gangrene…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Many, many, organisms die every year, as we all know, and without fungi, nothing would be able to decompose. You see, fungi break down dead plant and animal matter, completely eliminating any trace of the dead animal or plant. There are also some types of fungi that make medicine. For example, through an accidental discovery, the drug penicillin was created. Alexander Fleming was studying bacteria in 1928 when his experiment was contaminated with spores of Penicillium fungus destroyed all of the bacteria in his experiment.…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was an experiment held in Tuskegee, Alabama from 1932-1972. The study contained at least 600 African American men, 399 entered the study with syphilis and 201 without the disease, used as controls. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can result in fatal consequences. It can affect many internal organs, such as the heart, lungs and brain.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Restrictions on Antibiotics The CDC estimates that more than 200,000 people are hospitalized each year with the flu or with flu-related complications. Most people will believe that antibiotics are the resolution to all of their illnesses when in actuality, they are wrong. Antibiotics are not the resolve to every illness, in most cases antibiotics can work negatively. Antibiotic overuse is a serious matter that must be addressed by more people.…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays