Hundreds of human lives have been saved during the use of antibiotics in medical practice. The discovery of penicillin made it easy to save people from diseases that were considered incurable until the beginning of the 20th century.
Medicine before the invention of penicillin
For centuries, medicine was not able to save the lives of all sick. The first step towards a breakthrough was the discovery of the fact about the nature of the origin of many ailments. We are talking about the fact that most diseases arise due to the harmful effects of microorganisms. Quickly enough, scientists realized that pathogenic bacteria can be destroyed with the help of other microorganisms that display a "hostile attitude" to pathogens.
In the process of their medical practice, several scientists came to this conclusion as early as XIX. Among them was Louis Pasteur, who discovered that the action of certain types of microorganisms leads to the death of anthrax bacilli. But this information was not enough. It was necessary to find concrete effective ways to solve the problem. All attempts by doctors to create a universal medicine failed. And only pure chance and brilliant conjecture helped Alexander Fleming, the scientist who invented penicillin.
Useful properties of mold
It is difficult to believe that the most common mold has bactericidal properties. But this is true. After all, this is not just a greenish-gray substance, but a microscopic fungus. It arises from even smaller embryos that are in the air. In conditions of poor air circulation and other factors, mold is formed from them. Penicillin has not yet been discovered, but in the writings of Avicenna of the XI century there are references to the treatment of purulent diseases with the help of mold.
The dispute between two scientists
In the 60s of the XIX century, Russian doctors Alexei Polotebnov and Vyacheslav Manassein seriously argued. The subject of dispute was mold. Polotebnov believed that she is the ancestor of all microbes. Manassein insisted on the opposite point of view, and in order to prove his case, he conducted a series of studies.
He watched the growth of mold spores that he sowed in a nutrient medium. As a result, V. Manassein saw that the development of bacteria did not occur precisely at the growth sites of the mold. His opinion has now been confirmed empirically: mold does block the growth of other microorganisms. His opponent admitted the fallacy of his claim. Moreover, Polotebnov himself began to closely study the antibacterial properties of mold. There is evidence that he even successfully applied them in the treatment of poorly healing skin ulcers. Polotebnov devoted several chapters of his scientific work to the description of the properties of mold. In the same place, the scientist recommended the use of these features in medicine, in particular for the treatment of skin diseases. But this idea did not inspire other physicians and was unjustly forgotten.
Who invented penicillin
This merit belongs to the medical scientist Alexander Fleming. He was a professor in the laboratory of St. Mary of the city of London. The main theme of his scientific activity is the growth and properties of staphylococci. He made the discovery of penicillin by accident. Fleming was not particularly well-known, rather, on the contrary. Once, having left unwashed cups with bacterial cultures on the desktop, a few days later he noticed mold that had formed. He was interested in the fact that in the space around the mold the bacteria were destroyed.
Fleming gave the name of the substance secreted by mold. He called her penicillin. After conducting a large number of experiments, the Scientist was convinced that this substance can kill different types of pathogenic bacteria.
What year was penicillin invented? In 1928, the observation of Alexander Fleming gave the world this substance, miraculous for those times.
Production and Application
Fleming could not learn how to get penicillin, so at first practical medicine was not very interested in its discovery. Those who invented penicillin as a medicine were Govad Flory and Chane Ernst. Together with their associates, they isolated pure penicillin and created on its basis the world's first antibiotic.
In 1944, during World War II, scientists from the United States were able to get penicillin in an industrial way. Testing the drug took a little time. Almost immediately, penicillin began to use the armed forces of the allies to treat the wounded. When the war ended, the US civilian population was also able to acquire a miracle cure.
Everyone who invented penicillin (Fleming, Flory, Chain), became the owners of the Nobel Prize in medicine.
Penicillin: a history of discovery in Russia
When the Great Patriotic War was still ongoing, JV Stalin made numerous attempts to purchase a license for the production of penicillin in Russia. But the United States has been mixed. At first one sum was named, it must be said astronomical. But later it was increased two more times, explaining these increases by incorrect initial calculations. As a result, the negotiations were unsuccessful.
To the question of who invented penicillin in Russia, there is no definite answer. The search for methods for the production of analogues was entrusted to the microbiologist Zinaida Ermolyeva. She was able to get a substance called subsequently crustosin. But in its properties, this drug was much inferior to penicillin, and the production technology itself was time-consuming and expensive.
It was decided to still buy a license. The seller was Ernst Chain. After that, the development of technology and its launch into production began. This process was led by Nikolai Kopylov. The industrial production of penicillin was established quite quickly. For this, Nikolai Kopylov was awarded the Stalin Prize.
Antibiotics in general and penicillin in particular, of course, have truly unique properties. But today, scientists are increasingly worried that many bacteria and microbes develop resistance to such a therapeutic effect.
This problem now requires a thorough study and search for possible solutions, because indeed, there may come a time when some bacteria will no longer respond to the action of antibiotics.