Antibiotics

Opening of penicillin The most common mold fungi include representatives of the genus Penicillus. These mushrooms helped Alexander Fleming to make one of the greatest discoveries, which became an important event in medicine, chemistry, industry.

Opening of penicillin Fleming suggested that penicillic fungi secrete some substance. To verify this, he planted part of the fungus colony on the agar surface in a clean, sterilized cup, and sowed bacteria of diphtheria, anthrax, typhoid fever, etc. around it.

Opening of penicillin Fleming discovered the antibacterial properties of green penicillin mold (Penicillium notatum) and isolated a substance from it, which he called penicillin.

Opening of penicillin In the laboratory of A. Fleming, various cultures of microorganisms were grown and investigated. Once, in a Petri dish with a sown culture of staphylococcal bacteria, a luxurious colony of green mold grew, and around it a zone was formed, free from bacteria.

Getting an antibiotic In 1941, scientists of the laboratory of the University of Oxford, H. Flory and E. Cheney, managed to obtain pure penicillin in the form of a crystalline yellowish powder from the solution.

Nobel Prize Further tests on mice and rabbits confirmed: humanity has gained a powerful means of combating many infectious diseases. In 1945, A. Fleming, H. Flory and E. Cheney received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries.

Lives Saved During the Second World War, almost 90% of soldiers with infected wounds were cured thanks to the use of penicillin. Frustration The power of penicillin, which was so highly valued by the medical luminaries of that time, was not so powerful. Over time, microorganisms that cause disease, acquire immunity to this drug. Not so long ago, she announced that Fleming warned of excessive use of antibiotics, which can lead to the fact that the medicine could not help with fairly simple diseases.