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By 1941, Britain was suffering immensely from ?嗉???銝?蝘飛摰塚?靘??敺猾批?瘣????扳?嫖折?拙?隢?damages done by the Second World War. Resources ?潑批??寥?嚗漲撠撠潸正???潛???V??箔??之鞎Y??for scientific research were depleted, and Florey was
left with no choice but to make his way to the United 1928撟?????憭抬?撘???祕撽恕??敹?皜?蝝啗?
States to further his research. A team was assembled ?寥??踴憭拙?嚗??撖阡?摰歹??潛?嗡葉銝?擗?折鈭?嚗?in Peoria, Illinois, which Heatley was also a part of. A 雿???蒂瘝?蝝啗??????身?車?輕???e n icillium
growth medium based on liquid extract was used to notatum ??賢葆?畾箸香蝝啗??鞈迎?銝血??鞈芸??文側
grow the mold, and gave a tenfold increase in yield 镼踵??????寥??車?蒂銝捆??????????寞?雿踹?脣鈭?[1]. However, the team was determined to find another 擃漲銝??之???Y撠潸正?撮銋云?圈嚗??砌漲憭芣?鞎氬?strain of bacteria that was capable of producing a
higher amount of penicillin, to solve the problem of 撘????潛?航??箇?摮詨振撣嗡?鈭圾瘙箸??????蝝?
mass-producing the antibiotic. 憿?蝚砌???蝷箝?938撟湛??拙??揖憭批飛??摮詨振??撘?鋆?
?X嚗??啣?????文側镼踵???蝡?瘙箏??弦?孵???蝝??? In 1943, the team was still hard at work in finding a ??拍?銝惇撣?????券????寞??蝝漲頛??
new strain. A new mold, Penicillium chrysogenum, was 撠潸正???寥????詨??雯???豢??舀毽??隞仿??鈭?擗?
found in cantaloupe. It produced penicillin 200 times ?釭?敺?閰脫雯擃???蝟餌絞撘?唳偌銝茉1]???瑕?銋曄
more than Fleming? strain did. Additional refining 瘜?靘輯敺1%蝝漲?撠潸正???怒瘜?蝘飛摰嗅??啗雲憭?gave rise to a further five-fold increase in yield [1]. ?撠潸正?撠??脰?撖阡????*蝷綽?鋡急釣撠???撅祉敦?? ??敺?文側镼踵?敺噶??鈭2]?? The mass production of penicillin was in near
success when Heatley surprised the team with his ?唬?1941 撟湛??勗??蝚砌?甈∩??之?啣??圈?憭扳???蝘飛
innovation ??by mechanizing his back-extraction ?弦??皞?頞喉?撘?鋆?蝢?蝜潛??弦???其??抵姥撌
method by using whatever materials he could find, 憟折?鈭?蝯?鈭???撣?漲?舀??∩?銝??摮詨振?其誑?掖??
including drink bottles and milk churns, to speed up ?拍?箇??擗靘擗?嚗?????1]???荔??弦??
the production process and reduce manual labor. 瘙箏??曉?虫??頂?敦??隞亦??X憭??文側镼踵?嚗圾瘙箏之????Furthermore, another problem was tackled when ??蝝?????glyceryl monoricinolate, an antifoaming agent, was
added to the mixtures to prevent severe foaming 1943撟湛???靘?游?撠?啁??頂??????葉?潛
when sterile air was bubbled, to provide the mold with ???輕嚗??賜??X?撘????頂憭?00???文側镼踵?嚗?憭?
fresh air for penicillin production [1]. ???渲雿輻?????1]??
At this point, penicillin could be produced in 撣???菜銝餅?霈?摮詨振?W之???Y撠潸正???餈?
quantities large enough to be packaged for soldiers 甇乓??寥??隞颱?隞敺????靘?憌脫??嗅??扒?芣??剁?
of the war, preventing further deaths caused by 雿蹂????瘜?璇啣?嚗?敹怎??a漲??撠犖?極雿迨憭?
bacterial infections. The antibiotic was only made ?銝蝔桀??箇?瘝孵?獄瘝寥?舐?瘨部???湧??絲瘜⊥?瘜?available to the general public in 1945, upon the ?箇嚗?暺渲??擙桃征瘞???Y撠潸正?1]??end of the Second World War. Following their pivotal
achievement, other scientists combined efforts into 甇斗?嚗撠潸正?歇蝬隞亥◤憭折??嚗?雲隞乩??????creating different kinds of antibiotics that targeted ?ㄚ?蛛??脫迫?敦?????香鈭~??945撟渡洵鈭活銝?憭?other bacteria, some of which could not be killed by ?啁?????蝝?靘策憭抒雿輻????嗡?蝘飛摰嗡漲???銝?penicillin. ?車憿???蝝????嗡?蝔桅??敦???嗡葉鈭血??砌?鈭撠潸正?? 銝畾箸香?敦?? While Heatley unfortunately did not receive the
recognition he deserved for his key contribution to ?箸撘?鋆?拙?撘?????弦銝剖?敺???嚗誑??the development of the antibiotic, Florey and Chain ?箏?靘????弦??芯??楝嚗??1945撟游???唬?隢曇?
shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine with Alexander ?曄??飛?摮貊?????荔?撣?蒂瘝???隞??文側镼?Fleming in 1945 [3], for their joint efforts on their work on ?撅??之鞎Y敺?貊迂???琉3]?撠潸正???潛??敺?penicillin, and for paving the way for future studies on ?嗡???蝝??潭?嚗?怠飛蝘飛??銝剔??之頧暺?憭批之??antibiotics. Their groundbreaking discovery of penicillin 霈??亦?蝙?剁?銝行???訾誑?曇閮????and subsequent invention of antibiotics proved to
be a revolutionary turning point in medical science,
changing the way in which medicine was practiced,
and undoubtedly saving the lives of millions.
?文側镼踵??舀?撣貊????銋?嚗隞鼠?拐??⊥??鈭箝?
銝?鈭粹?仿?嚗撠潸正??梯??摮詨振鈭風撅勗之?批????潛??
References ????
[1] American Chemical Society. Discovery and Development of Penicillin. American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical
Landmarks. Retrieved from https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html
[2] B矇doy癡re, G. The Discovery of Penicillin. London: Evan Brothers Limited, 2005.
[3] Rooney, Anne. The Story of Medicine. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2009.
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