The Discovery
When we look back in time, it is evident that the medical discovery of Penicillin was profound and forever changed history. Penicillin's discovery is particularly interesting because the event was both accidental and serendipitous. The event occurred in 1928 by Dr Alexander Fleming and was the catalyst for research into the use of this new “wonder drug”. The intriguing part of this story is not just the discovery, but rather how a team of scientists persevered and worked to make this drug available when, during War time it was of most need, and its benefits became fully realized by saving thousands of lives.
The Discovery
One day while cleaning some old petri dishes Dr.Fleming came by an interesting surprise. In one of the dishes he saw some blue fuzzy mold growing on the edge of the dish. Around the mold the bacteria had stopped growing. This petri dish had staphylococcus in it and the mold growing on it would soon be a “ wonder drug “.
The relevance of Penicillin’s discovery was not fully appreciated initially in the medical community. Dr Fleming wrote a paper and it was circulated in medical texts however much to Dr Fleming’s disappointment there was not an overwhelming response to it. The lack of interest meant there was not much effort put into research or production of the drug. While Dr Fleming understood Penicillin’s potential to treat bacterial infection, he was not sure how to convert it to a viable form fit for human consumption or treatment. Several years passed and there was not much progress made, until the efforts of two other Doctor’s became involved, Dr Florey and Dr Chain.
Dr.Florey and Dr. Chain had started their research in 1938. In September of 1939 Dr. Florey had applied for the British Medical Research council for funds to continue research on penicillin. The organization approved and funded Dr. Florey’s research. However, since the nation was gearing up for war, the Medical Research Council had very little interest in funding a new unknown drug. Although, Dr.Florey was determined. He decided to try something new, he tried appealing for money to a researcher in the United states, ( the U.S had not entered the war yet ). He then wrote a proposal to the Rockefeller Foundation, lucky for Florey they were very impressed. The foundation agreed to fund his work on penicillin for 5 years. Florey’s goal was to developed a pure form of penicillin that could be injected into a living body, so he could see how the new “ wonder drug “ fought infection.
Using different and new chemical treatments they Dr. Florey and Dr. Chain were able to transform the penicillin mold into a brown powder that kept it’s antibacterial ability for a longer time, therefore healing an infection would use less of the medicine and last longer. Once the experimented with he powder they found it to be safe and the next step was to use it on people.Since they had found it to be safe and they knew that it would be safe for humans they wanted to produce as much as they could, especially with World War ll at front.
This is just around the time where Fleming had read the paper saying that Dr. Florey and Dr.Chain had been working on penicillin and had a purified form of it. He immitiatly called Florey and made an appointment to visit the labratory. When Fleming had arrived to Oxford it had been almost 12 years to the day that he had discovered the blue mold. After some more research and a few improvements the drug was ready to be tested on humans. The first person to be treated by penicillin was cured, although the infection to be cured was only small the new "wonder drug" began to save lives. The next person to be treated by penicillin was dying from infection after a hip surgery, the doctors gave the boy what they had left of the drug. Unfortuatly, it wasn't enough. The boy had been getting better but slowly he got worse and eventually died. Florey was sure the drug worked they just needed more of it
Mass Production
The challenges of making this drug suitable for human treatment were solved with revolutionary scientific efforts of Dr Florey and Dr Chain. Although, the problem of not having enough was the focus. Needing more funds and more interest Dr. Florey needed to learn how the drug worked inside the human body. Desperate for more funding Florey and Heatly packed up some of the test tubes and flew to the U.S. Finally after 3 months of traveling around the country the U.S Department of Agriculture decided to help. Florey flew back to Oxford while Heatly stayed in the U.S. Up to this time the blue mold Fleming had found was the only source penicillin came form, so they wanted to test other molds to see if the penicillin came from them too. One day a worker from the Department of Agriculture brought in a piece if rotting cantaloupe with a gold colored mold growing on it. The mold, once tested turned out to produce twice as much penicillin as the original mold Dr. Fleming had discovered. The unique combination of their skills, coupled with the social conditions at the time made it a profound discovery. As production was increased the price dropped to $20 in 1943 to 55 cents by 1946.
Changing History
If Dr. Fleming, Dr.Florey, and Dr.Chain had not discovered and safely produced penicillin thousands of soldiers would have been killed but also thousands of civilians from minor illnesses. Because of this discovery penicillin had become and will remain one of doctors main tools for treating infections and diseases. Penicillin also changed the focus of medical research. Doctors began concentrating on curing the diseases and less on creating immunity through the vaccines.This new "wonder drug " had become a " miracle cure ".
The Discovery
One day while cleaning some old petri dishes Dr.Fleming came by an interesting surprise. In one of the dishes he saw some blue fuzzy mold growing on the edge of the dish. Around the mold the bacteria had stopped growing. This petri dish had staphylococcus in it and the mold growing on it would soon be a “ wonder drug “.
The relevance of Penicillin’s discovery was not fully appreciated initially in the medical community. Dr Fleming wrote a paper and it was circulated in medical texts however much to Dr Fleming’s disappointment there was not an overwhelming response to it. The lack of interest meant there was not much effort put into research or production of the drug. While Dr Fleming understood Penicillin’s potential to treat bacterial infection, he was not sure how to convert it to a viable form fit for human consumption or treatment. Several years passed and there was not much progress made, until the efforts of two other Doctor’s became involved, Dr Florey and Dr Chain.
Dr.Florey and Dr. Chain had started their research in 1938. In September of 1939 Dr. Florey had applied for the British Medical Research council for funds to continue research on penicillin. The organization approved and funded Dr. Florey’s research. However, since the nation was gearing up for war, the Medical Research Council had very little interest in funding a new unknown drug. Although, Dr.Florey was determined. He decided to try something new, he tried appealing for money to a researcher in the United states, ( the U.S had not entered the war yet ). He then wrote a proposal to the Rockefeller Foundation, lucky for Florey they were very impressed. The foundation agreed to fund his work on penicillin for 5 years. Florey’s goal was to developed a pure form of penicillin that could be injected into a living body, so he could see how the new “ wonder drug “ fought infection.
Using different and new chemical treatments they Dr. Florey and Dr. Chain were able to transform the penicillin mold into a brown powder that kept it’s antibacterial ability for a longer time, therefore healing an infection would use less of the medicine and last longer. Once the experimented with he powder they found it to be safe and the next step was to use it on people.Since they had found it to be safe and they knew that it would be safe for humans they wanted to produce as much as they could, especially with World War ll at front.
This is just around the time where Fleming had read the paper saying that Dr. Florey and Dr.Chain had been working on penicillin and had a purified form of it. He immitiatly called Florey and made an appointment to visit the labratory. When Fleming had arrived to Oxford it had been almost 12 years to the day that he had discovered the blue mold. After some more research and a few improvements the drug was ready to be tested on humans. The first person to be treated by penicillin was cured, although the infection to be cured was only small the new "wonder drug" began to save lives. The next person to be treated by penicillin was dying from infection after a hip surgery, the doctors gave the boy what they had left of the drug. Unfortuatly, it wasn't enough. The boy had been getting better but slowly he got worse and eventually died. Florey was sure the drug worked they just needed more of it
Mass Production
The challenges of making this drug suitable for human treatment were solved with revolutionary scientific efforts of Dr Florey and Dr Chain. Although, the problem of not having enough was the focus. Needing more funds and more interest Dr. Florey needed to learn how the drug worked inside the human body. Desperate for more funding Florey and Heatly packed up some of the test tubes and flew to the U.S. Finally after 3 months of traveling around the country the U.S Department of Agriculture decided to help. Florey flew back to Oxford while Heatly stayed in the U.S. Up to this time the blue mold Fleming had found was the only source penicillin came form, so they wanted to test other molds to see if the penicillin came from them too. One day a worker from the Department of Agriculture brought in a piece if rotting cantaloupe with a gold colored mold growing on it. The mold, once tested turned out to produce twice as much penicillin as the original mold Dr. Fleming had discovered. The unique combination of their skills, coupled with the social conditions at the time made it a profound discovery. As production was increased the price dropped to $20 in 1943 to 55 cents by 1946.
Changing History
If Dr. Fleming, Dr.Florey, and Dr.Chain had not discovered and safely produced penicillin thousands of soldiers would have been killed but also thousands of civilians from minor illnesses. Because of this discovery penicillin had become and will remain one of doctors main tools for treating infections and diseases. Penicillin also changed the focus of medical research. Doctors began concentrating on curing the diseases and less on creating immunity through the vaccines.This new "wonder drug " had become a " miracle cure ".