HISTORY OF PENICILLIN
The discovery of Penicillin occurred in September of 1928, when Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist, ran a laboratory experiment. While testing a bacteria called Staphylococcus, a green fungus was produced and none of the bacteria could grow around it. In the article, "Discovery of Penicillin" it states, "Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, had returned from a vacation when, while talking to a colleague, he noticed a zone around an invading fungus on an agar plate in which the bacteria did not grow." The fungus killed the bacteria not allowing it to reproduce and grow. The Penicillium Notatum could kill bacteria on the agar plate, but it was not strong enough to fight bacteria in the human body. There was another strain of this fungus that was much stronger named Penicillium chrysogenum. In another article, "Production of Antibiotics" it says, "The infecting organism was P. chrysogenum. The original, wild strain of Penicillium produces a yellow pigment devoid of antibiotic properties which colours the final product. Production of antibiotics by mutants does not produce any pigment and yields a colourless end-product." The penicillin was studied for what strains (genetic variant or subtype of a microorganism) killed the bacteria so that it would be easier to purify the antibiotic. Penicillin took many years before it was ready to be used on humans. It took a lot of testing and experimenting before it was at the maximum strength, but the discovery of Penicillin, the first antibiotic, was essential to the progression of medicine over the years. This testing was done by other scientists who Fleming later shared his Noble Prize in Medicine with. To this day penicillin is still widely used in the medical industry. Penicillin in 1941, was described as...
By that time the news was spreading to news-sources such as the New York Times and other famous newspapers. In March of 1942, Anne Miller became the first civilian to receive a successful treatment of penicillin. She barely avoided dying after an infection from a miscarriage. From then on Penicillin has become one of the most successful antibiotics ever to be discovered.