Transcript The Development of Penicillin

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.
ATTEMPTS AT ANTIBIOTICS
IN HISTORY
• EGYPTIANS APPLIED MOLDY BREAD TO
WOUNDS IN BELIEF OF HEALING.
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/F
LEMINGPENICILLIN.HTML (ACCESSED MARCH 1, 2014).