Penicillin: Do scientific discoveries happen more by accident or design?
Learning Outcomes:
* To identify the importance of the discovery of penicillin.
* To identify and evaluate the reasons for the discovery and manufacture
of penicillin as a drug widely available by the late 1940s.
Video Starter: Fleming and the discovery of Penicillin
| Title: Fleming and the discovery of penicillin
Duration: 01:39 Description: This short clip begins with an interview with Sir From |
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| Launch in external player |
Read about Fleming’s work on these recommended websites:
The British Library: a noble life in Science.
History Learning Site – Fleming and Penicillin
Now check your understanding of the development of penicillin b attempting
this exercise on educationforum.co.uk.
Activity:
Using the information from the links above and the chart below create
an interative poster
(a glog) illustrating how different factors combined to lead to the
discovery and development of penicilin.
The discovery of penicillin
| Date | Person | What the advance was | Why it was important/ what the effect was |
| 1928 | Fleming | He discovered a mould that he called penicillin. It killed other bacteria. |
It was anti-biotic. He could not grow this mould in large quantities. |
| Late 1930s | Florey and Chain | They made pure penicillin by freeze drying it. | This penicillin was given to mice that had been infected with harmful bacteria. The mice survived. The uses of penicillin were clear. |
| 1941 | Florey and Chain | They performed the first human experiment using penicillin. It was given to a patient suffering from a terrible infection. |
The experiment was a success as the infection was reduced but there was not enough of it to kill the infection completely. The patient died. |
| 1942 | US drug companies | These companies mass-produced penicillin. | Now infections and infectious diseases could be treated. The fight against disease was won. |
| Late 1940s | Walksman | He found that antibiotics were in soils. | TB could be fought effectively. But soon it would become resistant to this anti-biotic. |
| Note: this table has been taken from a worksheet that a colleague passed to me. Unfortunately I do not know who originally created this resource and am unable to cite the author. If you recognise it, please let me know so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made. |
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Worksheet: The Fight against Infectious Disease
Schoolshistory home – History teachers resources – Medical History Timelines – Alexander Fleming – Florey and Chain develop Penicillin – Gerhard Domagk and Prontosil – Edward Jenner and the Smallpox Vaccine – Louis Pasteur and Germ Theory – Robert Koch – The development of Vaccinations – Was Penicillin an accident? – Paul Ehrlich and the Magic Bullet
Medicine Through time – Resources for Medicine Through Time – Prehistoric Medicine – Ancient Egyptian Medicine – Ancient Greek Medicine – Medicine in the Roman Empire – Medieval Medicine – Renaissance Medicine – Public Health in the Industrial Revolution – Fight against infectious disease – Modern Medicine
