2006-10-25 03:01:09 · 7 answers · asked by cat_lover 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
Yup. I agree with above ans. It's the first anti-biotic. and if im nt wrong..its discovered unintentionally
2006-10-25 03:55:47 · answer #1 · answered by luv_phy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The antibacterial effect of penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1929. He noted that a fungal colony had grown as a contaminant on an agar plate streaked with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, and that the bacterial colonies around the fungus were transparent, because their cells were lysing. Fleming had devoted much of his career to finding methods for treating wound infections, and immediately recognised the importance of a fungal metabolite that might be used to control bacteria. The substance was named penicillin, because the fungal contaminant was identified as Penicillium notatum. Fleming found that it was effective against many Gram positive bacteria in laboratory conditions, and he even used locally applied, crude preparations of this substance, from culture filtrates, to control eye infections. However, he could not purify this compound because of its instability, and it was not until the period of the Second World War (1939-1945) that two other British scientists, Florey and Chain, working in the USA, managed to produce the antibiotic on an industrial scale for widespread use. All three scientists shared the Nobel Prize for this work, and rightly so - penicillin rapidly became the "wonder drug" which saved literally millions of lives.
The phenomenal success of penicillin led to the intensive search for other antibiotic-producing microorganisms, especially from soil environments.
2006-10-25 05:29:32 · answer #2 · answered by Suedoenimm 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Penicillin's incidental and serendipitous discovery set researchers on an entirely different course when trying to find anti-microbial substances. It would be a vastly different world were it not for penicillin and the other antibiotics that have been discovered as a result of that one.
2006-10-25 05:23:16 · answer #3 · answered by finaldx 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it was the first antibiotic and has saved millions of lives by combatting bacterial infections that used to kill people.
2006-10-25 03:09:53 · answer #4 · answered by JJ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Penicillin is the first antibiotic. It is still useful for streptococci ,Clostridia and syphilis.
2006-10-25 03:22:36 · answer #5 · answered by J.SWAMY I ఇ జ స్వామి 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Penicilin was discovered accidentally.
2006-10-25 06:01:55 · answer #6 · answered by damiand4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but I'm allergic to it.
2006-10-25 15:06:51 · answer #7 · answered by cody_the_genius 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋