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Key discoveries - Coggle Diagram
Key discoveries
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Antibiotics
Fleming starts
An antibiotic is a treatment that destroys/limits the growth of bacteria in the human body – the first one was penicillin
Different to a magic bullet because it was created using microorganisms, not chemicals
Fleming (a British doctor) was working in London, interested in bacteriology
During the First World War, Fleming worked in battlefield hospitals trying to improve treatment for wounded soldiers
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In 1928, he noticed something unusual about his dirty petri dishes – one of them had developed mould
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He tested the mould and identified it as penicillin – from the Middle Ages people were ware that mouldy bread had healing properties (Lister had used it in 1871)
BUT… Fleming did not believe penicillin could work to kill bacteria in living people. First experiments with the mould showed it became ineffective when mixed with blood in test tubes in the laboratory, so Fleming did not pursue or perform further tests on the mould
Florey and Chain
On from Fleming's work
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Chain grew the mould in his lab, and used extracts of it in tests for treatment
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The active ingredient in the liquid produced by the mould only represented one part per two million – needed to grow a great deal of mould before it was possible to get started on a human trial
Tried to grow as much penicillin as possible (milk churns, bed pans, bath rubs)
Used it on a policeman who had got septicaemia (blood poisoning), he showed signs of recovery, extract penicillin from urine and he kept recovering. He eventually died
The significance of this though was that it proved to be an effective fighting infection in the human body
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First magic bullet
Salvarsan 606
Paul Elrich, who worked with Robert Koch reasoned that, if certain dyes could stain bacteria, perhaps certain chemicals could kill them. Elrich said this would be like a Magic Bullet. The chemical would ‘shoot’ the infection, not the patient.
Elrich set up a private laboratory and a team of scientists and by 1914 they had discovered several ‘magic bullets’ – compounds (chemical mixtures) that would target and kill specific bacteria.
The most effective and well known compound was Salvarsan 606 (it was 606th attempt). It could now be used to treat the STD syphilis. It was the first treatment of disease using chemicals.
It was important because it was a major step in the progress of medicine as it was the first chemical that could be used to kill an infection inside the body. BUT…as Salvarsan 606 was made from arsenic, it was poisonous.
Second Magic bullet
Prontosil
In 1932 Gerhard Domagk found the second magic bullet after years of research. This was a red dye called Prontosil and killed the bacteria causing blood poisoning. At first he trialled on mice which proved to be a success.
Domagk soon had the chance to trial it on a human – his own daughter who had blood poisoning which could not be cured. He injected her with Prontosil and she recovered.
The NHS was launched in 1948 by the government aiming to produce medical care for the entire population. There were two different phases to the setting up of the NHS.
Doctors discovered that sulphonamide was the key ingredient which attacked disease and were able to then create new drugs which cured gonorrhoea, pneumonia and scarlet fever. This helped mothers dying from post-natal infection drop from 20% to 5% - a huge impact