Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 19. The battle of Britain
In April and May 1940, the Oxford team tests its brown powder on cats, rabbits, rats, mice and other animals. The animals stay healthy. They also discover that injection is the best way of administering the drug. If it is swallowed, the functionality disappears in the stomach. But they also observe that the medicine’s activity
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 18. Penicillin beats the sulfas!
Four major questions dominated the Oxford research on penicillin. We review them in good order. 1. How do we grow as much mould as possible, while maximizing penicillin production? 2. Which harmful bacteria will be attacked by penicillin? 3. Are there any harmful effects of penicillin on the body? 4. What is the chemical structure
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 17. The Oxford team
Eventually, a team of Oxford University succeeds in the production and purification of penicillin. But a strange team it is; it never grows into some kind of unity. It consists of Ernst Chain, Howard Florey, Norman Heatley, Margaret Jennings and Edward Abraham. Their research is their only point in common. Several books have described in
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 16. The Sulfas have the upper hand
The metaphor of a football game befits our theme. Football is war, isn’t it? Project ‘100 years of antibiotics’ Episode 14. Riddles and coincidence Episode 15. Historic antibiotic agents Episode 16. The Sulfas have the upper hand Episode 17. The Oxford team Episode 18. Penicillin beats the sulfas Let’s take the years 1920-1950 to be
Chemistry vs. antibiotics, # 15. Historic antibacterial agents
We always learned that Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin; but penicillin-like substances have been used in medicine throughout the ages. In fact, we might use these historic practices as a source of inspiration for new therapies. Particularly in order to overcome resistance, the problem that 100 years of use of antibacterial agents have demonstrated to us
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 14. Riddles and coincidence
What then caused the penicillin mould to arrive in Alexander Fleming’s petri dish? And why were conditions exactly right at that moment for killing the staphylococci? Even today we don’t have clear answers to those questions. One of the causes of the mystery is that many researchers couldn’t reproduce Fleming’s discovery. Project ‘100 years of
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 13. November 1921 and September 1928
The story of the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming is well-known. On returning from a holiday on September 3, 1928, he remarks that in a petri dish with a bacterial culture (staphylococci) there is an area without any bacterial growth; instead it contains a patch of moulds. Fleming judges a possible explanation to be
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 12. Lessons learned
The title of our last episode (Pride comes before a fall) may not do justice to the major importance of the sulfas for the further development of medicinal chemistry. In fact, the sulfas mark the start of a new era in medical history. Their importance equals that of other major steps: the development of anaesthesia;
