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 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.

CITATION

• AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARKS. DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PENICILLIN. HTTP://WWW.ACS.ORG/CONTENT/ACS/EN/EDUCATION/WHATISCHEMISTRY/LANDMARKS/FLEMINGPENICILLIN.HTML (ACCESSED MARCH 1, 2014).