Why was penicillin invented

Penicillin is a very important drug of the world. This is because this drug is used to treat the infections caused by bacteria. Prior to the discovery of penicillin, there were no drugs that helped to prevent wounds from getting infected. Such infections caused a lot of deaths in hospitals. This is because bacteria enter the wound exactly at the point where an incision is made. This poisons the blood and would result even in death of the individual. Though there were many provisions to prevent the bacteria from entering the bacteria, there was always an absence of a medicine that could destroy the bacteria that had already entered the body.

It was this desire that drove several scientists of the early 20th century. One among such scientists was Alexander Fleming. In the year 1922 Fleming discovered a chemical called lysosome that could destroy bacteria at a very fast rate. Though this was effective, it could not destroy the bacteria that actually produced the infection. This was a major disappointment as there were expectations that lysosomes were the drug that the world most needed. However with the proof that lysosomes were not effective on bacteria, the search began once again.

The world's priced possession continued to elude all scientists till the year 1928. Alexander Fleming was developing some staphylococci for his work. He found that the staphylococci in one of the cultures had dissolved due to the presence of a mold. The mold produced a certain chemical substance that had destroyed the bacteria. That was the discovery of penicillin. After further tests were carried out, he was able to extract the juice of this mold. This drug was able to destroy bacteria that produced diseases such as meningitis, gonorrhea, pneumonia and diphtheria. The other most important point was that this drug was not poisonous to humans in any way.

During the Second Word War, there were so many casualties and most of them as a result of infected wounds. This situation needed mass production of penicillin. Ernst Chain and Howard Florey resurrected the work of Alexander Fleming. They were able to form a powdered form of penicillin. The powdered form could be easily carried to different places than the liquid version of the drug. The first human was treated to this drug in the year 1941. Later in the year 1945, Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain were awarded the Nobel Prize for their contribution to medicine. The strength of penicillin in destroying bacteria is remarkable as it is used till today as the drug is able to save some many lives.

Tags:

 Print this page