Scientific Discovery Paper On Penicillin
Tracey Ann Elledge
University of Phoenix, Las Vegas NV
Creative Minds and Critical Thinking
PHL 458
Cornell Horn, M.A.; M.A.
December 01, 2009
Scientific Discovery Paper
Penicillin is an antibiotic that destroys bacteria by destroying the cell wall of the microorganism. It does this by inactivating an enzyme necessary for the cross linking of bacterial cell walls. The enzyme is known as the Tran peptidase. It accepts the penicillin as a substrate, it the alkanolates a nucleophilic oxygen of the enzyme, rendering it inactive. Cell wall construction stops and the bacteria soon die. The antibiotic nature of the penicillin so due to the strain lactam ring, on opening the ring strain is relieved this makes penicillin more reactive than ordinary amides.
Before penicillin a simple pinprick or tiny cut could have been lethal. There are so many people easily catching infections that would rage out of control. Children died regularly from scarlet fever, from infections of the bones, throat, stomach or, brain. Many of us would not be here today had it not been for the discovery of penicillin.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery from an already discarded, contaminated Petri dish. The mold that had contaminated the experiment turned out to contain powerful antibiotic, penicillin. However, though Fleming was credited with the discovery, it was over a decade before someone else turned penicillin into the miracle drug for the 20th century.
The search for a wonder drug had been a focus of Fleming for some time. He had read the work of Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, which described bacteria in 1683. It was Louis Pasteur who confirmed that bacteria actually caused diseases. This wasn’t confirmed until the 19th century. Though many scientists had this information, no one could find a chemical that could kill harmful bacteria.
Fleming had interest in the body’s fight with infections. Fleming first break through was with the discovery of lysozyme. This was a natural antiseptic that is found in human tears and saliva. The discovery lysozyme turned out to be an embarrassment for Fleming. Lysozyme was found to be useless against harmful diseases. Because of this unless finding, Fleming’s colleagues thought his penicillin finding was just another dead end discovery. Fleming’s consistency and creative allowed the Russians in using lysozyme for preserving caviar. The doctors’ added lysozyme to cow milk to help reproduce the component structure as human milk in the treatment of eye and intestinal treatment.
Using scientific reasoning, scientific thought and the components of creativity that helped scientist finally isolate penicillin. Scientist also realized that in a world of controlled experiments, chance is seldom acknowledge as a contributing factor in important discoveries. The discovery of penicillin is one example of rare exceptions.
The scientific method is typically known for its orderliness and control, In fact, we are taught that without these characteristics, experimental research may yield invalid results. Therefore, chance should play little or no role in the process of the scientific method (Chance and method; by: Fran Slowiczek, Ed. D.I and Pamela M. Peters, PhD) History has taught us some chance discoveries have led to startling new ideas that eventually directed important further scientific investigation of natural phenomena. In the late 1800, bacteriologists and microbiologist set out to identify substances with therapeutic potential. One of the greatest problems faced by these scientists during their studies was the contaminations of “pure” culture by invading microorganisms, especially fungi or bacteria- a problem that still plagues the modern-day microbiologist. It is this problem of contamination, which is most often indentified as leading to the “chance” observation that eventually led to the discovery of penicillin (Chance and Method; by: Fran Slowiczek, Ed. D, Pamela M. Peters, PhD). Without the components of creativity; Foraging, Reflecting, Adopting, Nurturing and knuckling down the chance discoveries would not have fostered into numerous finding. These scientist gathered information from past discoveries, too generate new ideas, select past ones, improve on past ones, and never gave up. These are the foundations of creativity. Steven Spielberg once said “I Dream for a living”; its Quotations like this that I believe inspire creativity (Spielberg, 2009)
Critical thinking played a major role in the findings of penicillin, though it was by chance. Critical thinking includes a complex combination of skills in which it took many different scientists to use to isolate the chemical reaction needed in the development of penicillin. We are thinking critically when we rationalize, be self-aware, are honest, have open mindedness, discipline, and make sound judgments. Critical thinkers approach ideas with skepticism and suspicion, they are active, not passive. They ask questions and analyze consciously apply tactics and strategies to uncover meaning or ensure their understanding. Critical thinkers do not take an egotistical view of the world. Many are open to new ideas and perspectives. Willing to challenge their beliefs and investigate competing evidence. This critical thinking enabled the scientist to recognize a wide range of subjective analysis of otherwise objective data by evaluating facts and analyzing those that met their needs.
Alexander Fleming used the components of creativity and critical thinking though he discovered it by mistake. Fleming was a pack rat and he never threw anything away. On a September morning in 1928, Alexander Fleming sat at his workbench at St. Mary’s hospital after returning from a vacation at the Dhoon (his country house) with his family. Before he had left on vacation, Fleming had piled a number of his Petri dishes to the side of he bench so that Stuart R. Craddock could use his workbench while he was away. When Fleming returned from vacation, he was sorting through the long unattended stacks to determine which ones could be salvage. Many of the dishes had been contaminate so Fleming placed each tray into Lysol. One day, Fleming noticed a blue mold growing on one of his unwashed Petri dishes. He sized the moment and changed the world forever. From that moment on, Fleming became obsessed with penicillin mold, even using his moldy shoes. Fleming showed amazing ingenuity in his makeshift creation of the first penicillin. Fleming didn’t have the luxury of a factory or warehouse with fancy equipment. He work with make shift tools and other devices like oilcans, biscuit tins, dustbins, bedpans, milk churns, and bookracks.
Fleming was not a chemist and thus could n isolate the active antibacterial element, penicillin and could not keep the element active long enough to be used in humans. In 1929, Fleming wrote a paper on his findings, which did not garner any scientific interest. It wasn’t until 12 years later in 1940. When two scientists at Oxford University were researching promising projects in bacteriology that could possible be enhanced or continued with chemistry. Australian Howard Florey and German refugee Ernst Chain began working with penicillin. Using new chemical techniques, they were able to produce a brown powder that kept its antibacterial powder for longer than a few days. They experimented with the powder and fond it to be safe (Alexander Fleming Discovers penicillin; by Jennifer Rosenberg). The Oxford team as Florey’s researchers had become known and began experimenting with the penicillin mold. They took it one step further than Fleming did: they did not just try it topically or in a Petri dish, but injected it in live mice. With controlled experimentation, they found it cured mice with bacterial infections. They went on to try it on a few human subjects and saw amazing results.
By 1941, and England was at war. As Fleming first foresaw, the wartime need for an antibacterial was necessity, but resources were tight and penicillin still very experimental. Florey had connections at the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States and they funded further research. The biggest problem was producing enough penicillin. This was hard and expensive to accomplish. Florey and another researcher traveled to the U.S to talk to chemical manufacturers and ended up in Peoria, Illinois. An agricultural research center there had developed excellent techniques of fermentation, a process needed for penicillin growth. The penicillin was grown there in corn, which was not commonly grown in Britain. The penicillin loved it, and yielded almost 500 times as much as it has before. More vigorous and productive strains of the mold were sought, and one of the best came from a rotting cantaloupe from a Peoria market. This how they discovered a new way to mass-produce the medicine.
Scientific reasoning played a role in the discovery of penicillin by allowing the scientist to gather information for their work. Creativity is a major key factor in most scientific research. Even though the discovery of penicillin was an accident. It also opened doors in establishing drug companies and experimentation and progress in drug discovery.
Reference:
Pencillin. On-line Medical Dictionary. Retrieved November 26, 2009. http://onlinemedicalditionary.com/penicillin
Slowiczek, F. ED.D.I and Peters. P, Ph.D.,. Discovery Chance and the Scientific Method. Retrieved November 27, 2009. http://wwwaccessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/chance.php
Spielberg, S. 26-Quotes. Retrieve November 27, 2009. http://www.brainyquote.com/quote/authors/s/steven_spielburg
Rosenberg, J. Alexander Fleming Discovers Penicillin. Retrieve November 29, 2009. http://www.about.com/alexanderfleming/penicillin
