The Discovery and Development of Penicilin

1385 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: War influence on the development of penicillin

Penicillin has been considered a miracle drug by doctors ever since it was first used in 1942. It could cure nearly every disease that it was prescribed for and was the cause of a major turning point in World War 2. Yet, for the past forty years there have been bacteria strains discovered that can withstand the power of Penicillin. The mass production and misuse of penicillin has caused the miracle drug to become ineffective towards serious infections.
Penicillin is a form of anti-biotic. The first antibiotic was discovered by Paul Vuillemin, who studied the effects of Antibiosis or the process in which an organism takes another’s life in order to maintain its own life (Porter 455). Penicillin is one of the most well known and most used antibiotics on the market today. It refers to a mold that does not allow the bacteria surrounding it to reproduce, effectively destroying it (Hamblin 240). After its initial discovery, Penicillin was purified and manipulated into a form that could be used to cure bacterial infections (Aldridge, Parascandola,and Sturchio 4). Penicillin is one of the greatest medical discoveries during the twentieth century, but it wasn’t ready to use the day after it was discovered, in fact, it took years before clinical use and before it was successfully mass produced.
The first step towards mass production was gaining the support of the public. World War 2 allowed penicillin to gain popularity because of its impact on the allied forces. Because of the widespread use in the war and because of production rate, the price of penicillin dropped from 20$ per vial to one dollar per vial (Hamblin 240). This price drop allowed it to become more accessible to the public, and by the 1950’s penicillin was being used to trea...

... middle of paper ...

...tive power. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2002. Print.
Porter, Roy. The greatest benefit to mankind: a medical history of humanity. New York: W. W. Norton, 19981997. Print.
Rex, and Anderson. Wise antibiotic use in the age of drug resistance. New York: Cohen, 1997. Print.
Skold, Ola. Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons , 2010. Print.
Wainwright, Milton. Miracle cure: the story of penicillin and the golden age of antibiotics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1990. Print.
Watson, Stephanie. Superbugs: the rise of drug-resistant germs. New York, NY: Rosen Pub., 2010. Print.
White, William L.. "The Use Of Penicillin In Surgical Infections." the american journal of the medical sciences 208.2 (1944): 248-255. Print.
Williams, Trevor Illtyd. Howard Florey: penicillin and after. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Print.

Show More
Related

  • The Factor of War in the Development of Penicillin

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Factor of War in the Development of Penicillin The discovery, development and subsequent use of penicillin can be considered to be one of the most important breakthroughs in medical history. There were many factors, which were involved in the development of penicillin, and it could be argued that war was the most important, but other factors were also responsible. Alexander Fleming was working in London as a bacteriologist in 1928 when he noticed that a growth of a mould called penicillin produced a substance that actually killed the germs he was working on. He realised that this might be very important and a year later he wrote an article about his findings. However, Fleming did not have the facilities or the support to develop and test his idea that penicillin could fight infection, and he didn't develop it further.

    Read More

  • Superbugs Essay

    2729 Words  | 6 Pages

    Resistance arises from mutations that are not under the control of humans, but the evolution of bacteria has been sped along by the overexposure of antibiotics to both people and animals. The number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in an area is closely related to the frequency that antibiotics that are prescribed (Todar, 2012). Patients often unnecessarily demand antibiotics to treat common colds or simple illnesses that are not caused by bacteria. Instead, these infections are caused by viruses which, unlike bacteria, are unaffected by antibiotics. Incorrect diagnosis can also lead patients to using unnecessary antibiotics, which can sometimes be even more dangerous than otherwise left untreated. Besides the fact that antibiotics kill off beneficial bacteria in the intestines, misuse of antibiotics provides an opportunity ...

    Read More

  • The Medicalization of Society by Peter Conrad

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Conrad, Peter. The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bibliography:.. References 1) Lewis, Ricki, “The Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections”. Food and Drug Administration Publications. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/795_antibio.html September, 1995. 2) Levy, S., Bittner, M., and Salyers, A. Ask the Experts about “Ask the Experts”.

    Read More

  • World War 2 Penicillin Research Paper

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    World War 2 gave penicillin a chance to show the world that this was indeed a miracle drug by showing its worth, and it proved worthy. For example, “ Penicillin was so effective that production increased from 400 million units in early 1943 to more than 650 billion units per month by the end of the war in 1945” ( “Penicillin: World War 2” 1). Since the production of penicillin increased this showed the effectiveness of penicillin which in returned showed that penicillin could be used worldwide making a global impact. Using penicillin made it uncomplicated for doctors to treat their patients more swiftly. In addition, “ By attacking open wounds with antiseptics, army doctors were able to revitalize troops more quickly” ( “Penicillin: World War 2” 2). Because they were able to revitalize troops more swiftly, the soldiers would be able to get back into combat faster and waste less time than if there was no penicillin. Thanks to penicillin the death rate has incredibly decreased for bacterial infections. Furthermore, “In the war penicillin proved its mettle. “Throughout history, the major killer in wars had been infection rather than battle injuries. In World War 1, the death rate from bacterial pneumonia was 18 percent; in World War II, it fell, to less than 1 percent” ( World First Antibiotic” 2). This quote shows that penicillin is truly effective and that it can be used to assist additional people around the

    Read More

  • How Did Alexander Fleming Discover Penicillin

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    Howard Florey at Oxford university. The hard research was able to prove penicillin ability to kill infectious bacteria. This was all during the world war II. The British Scientist try to spread his incredible discovery but he could not produce the quantities of penicillin needed for the clinical trials for people in the war, so he turned to the United States for help, so that the Americans could try to help them reproduce more penicillin. On July 9 1941 Howard Florey and Norman Heatley, Oxford university scientist came to the U.S. with a small yet valuable package containing a little amount of penicillin. As you can see penicillin was turning from small bacteria in Flemings laboratory to a huge success that can save many

    Read More

  • The robb'd that smiles steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    The scientist, Alexander Fleming, had just discovered and destroyed the world’s first anti biotic, penicillin. When he was disposing of the mouldy samples, he had no idea what he was doing. When he learnt of what he had done, he was very distressed. Fortunately, he was able to recover enough of the disposed samples that he was able to cultivate more penicillin, without which none of us would probably be here today.

    Read More

  • Penicillin Essay

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Florey traveled with Heatley to the U.S. In the United States, Reid and others were already conducting their own experiments on penicillin. Florey and Heatley were directed to Charles Thom. Heatley teaches Thom how he developed a method to create a usable form of penicillin. However, he was missing a key ingredient but Thom suggested the use of a corn liquor. This corn liquor produced more penicillin than Heatley’s solution did. The manufacturing problem was solved just in time for a fire in Boston in 1942 that left many burned and some dead. The burned developed infections and were treated with penicillin. This was the first major large scale treatment with penicillin and it was a success. The burn victims became better. Shortly after this fire, the U.S. entered into WWII. The government took control of the production of penicillin. In the war, penicillin truly shined. Wounds that were infected were treated with penicillin. Many lives were saved. Lives that would have been lost due to infection were saved due to the penicillin’s ability to stop bacterial

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Antibiotics

    1859 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...cs to patients. Prioritize the recipient base so that antibiotics are used as a last resort. This could be made possible by public use of good illness prevention skills such as washing hands and keeping woulds clean (Davies). These steps and others could greatly reduce or even possibly solve the entire problem of antibiotic resistance and allow us to continue to use antibiotics in a responsible manner. Because regardless of resistance, antibiotics does save lives every day. The overuse of antibiotics in livestock, the risky use of GMOs, and the human clinical overprescription of antibiotics are risks that truly do outweigh any benefits of continuing use at it’s current pace. These are problems which can be easily remedied and we should do everything in our power to do so. The evidence is there, resistance is on the rise. We must stop it before it truly is too late.

    Read More

  • Hippocrates: Father of Medicine

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Goldberg, Herbert S. Father of Medicine, Lincoln, NB 1963, 2006 Authors Choice Press, an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.

    Read More

  • Penicillin And Vaccination Research Paper

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary’s hospital in London. It was used as a treatment for bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Although penicillin was discovered in 1928, it was not actually recognized until the year of 1945 in the United States. This recognition was successfully led by scientists at the Oxford University. Since then the large-scale development of penicillin, it has considerably reduced the number of deaths from infections. Others may describe it as a miracle drug that has aided in many patients throughout the

    Read More

  • Discovery Of Penicillin

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    Howard Florey was a British scientist who conducted research along with others on penicillin in the United States (Bellis). Key aspects described by Mary Bellis in “The history of Penicillin” emphasise that Florey’s research on penicillin helped “demonstrate penicillin's ability to kill infectious bacteria.” With further research done on penicillin, it was conceivable to use penicillin in beneficial ways. World War II boosted the intensity of the research on penicillin because, as stated by Brittany Connors in “The Discovery of Penicillin: The True Story”, “Part of the reason for their increased effort in discovering how penicillin could be used on humans was that a drug was needed to reduce bacterial infections in soldiers’ wounds.” Death from infected wounds was a common problem before antibiotics, such as penicillin. During the early development of penicillin as an antibiotic much progress was made. However, Florey and other scientists were having problems producing large quantities of the

    Read More

  • The Discovery Of Penicillin

    504 Words  | 2 Pages

    Andrew Moyer was one of the fantastic scientists to discover penicillin. Dr. Moyer was an expert on the nutrition of molds. According to The History of Penicillin by Mary Bellis, “Andrew J Moyer… with the assistance of Dr. Heatley… in increasing the yields of penicillin 10 times” (124). Furthermore, after the discovery of the drug, the price skyrocketed after the effectiveness was realized. According to Bellis also said, “… from nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946”(124). The discovery was monumental.

    Read More

  • Penicillin Research Paper

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    Howard Florey, a scientist at the Oxford University. Florey, along with some of his colleagues, began research on penicillin and its properties in 1939. They brought a small dose of penicillin to the Peoria Lab in the U.S. to begin their work. “Pumping air into deep vats containing corn steep liquor and the addition of other key ingredients was shown to produce faster growth and larger amounts of penicillin than the previous surface-growth method” (Bellis). Florey found an easier way to process penicillin rapidly and in larger amounts, saving time and money. After his discovery, the drug was mass-produced and used on the war front, saving many lives (Connors). Without Florey’s achievement, penicillin would never have become the antibiotic used

    Read More

  • Penicillin

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    Under the scientific expertise of Andrew J. Moyer, Penicillin was tested clinically before being issued to people, and, through research, was proven to be the most efficient antibiotic substance, even compared to more modern data (Bellis 123). Moyer’s studies pushed penicillin into the common world, and demand rapidly increased. An increase in production causes an decrease in price, as shown by Bellis in “The History of Penicillin”. “As production increased, the price dropped from nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946” (124). More penicillin was produced, therefore the uses expanded and the price decreased. The original mass-production of penicillin began the continuous usage, even about eighty years

    Read More

More about The Discovery and Development of Penicilin

Open Document