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Penicillin Research Paper

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"Perhaps one of the most compelling facts about penicillin is that it went on to save hundreds of thousands of lives during World War II, and has continued to forestall infectious diseases ever since." (Source One, lines 35-38) The strongest drug a person could receive against infections is penicillin. People know what this drug is, but not how it was discovered, developed, and mass produced. Penicillin, one of the most spectacular advances in the medical universe, was discovered and developed by three men; Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, and Andrew J. Moyer. …show more content…
When Fleming went on a month-long vacation in 1928, he left a messy laboratory behind. Not a very bright idea, as when he came back, all the open Petri dishes were filled to the brim with mold. As Fleming soaked the cultures with Lysol, he noticed that one of the molds looked different than the others. After a few weeks of looking it over, he declared the mold was penicillium notatum, an anti-bacterial agent. He announced that a spore of the penicillium notatum must have floated through the open window and landed on the culture while he was gone. While this may be plausible, this is a very large bet seeing that the window could not open. It is most likely that the spore actually originated down in the mycology lab, a level lower; considering his habit of being unorganized. Most people credit Fleming with the discovery of Penicillin, but it actually took two more men to make it applicable to

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