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| - On January 2, 2154, on the Enterprise (NX-01), Jay Hayes returns from a mission to a Xindi sphere with a cough. In competition with Malcolm Reed, he does not want anyone to know, but Lili O'Day hears him coughing, and offers to make him something to help. Swearing secrecy, she demands a small payment from him, that he smile on occasion. At the end of his life, Hayes recalls this incident, and wills her his lucky nickel, in full and final payment for his chicken soup debt (In Between Days: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere).
- Penicillin was first discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, though it was hardly paid much attention because of its difficulty to harvest on any useful scale. However, in 1938, a research group led by Professor Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford began to experiment with the substance’s medical properties. In May 1940, the group had produced enough of the substance to the point where they could test the substance’s effects on animals that had been given fatal doses of various diseases. The substance performed remarkably and more funding was requested to continue the research.
- Penicillin was a medicine discovered on Earth by Alexander Fleming in 1928. In 1066, the Monk gave some anachronistic penicillin to the injured Eldred, telling Wulnoth that it was a sort of herb. (TV: "A Battle of Wits") In 2008, Plummer of the Pharm said that once they'd developed Reset for human use, it would be bigger than penicillin. (TV: Reset)
- Penicillin was the first antibiotic, and is still, 60 years after its first use, one of the most widely used of the drugs. Prior to the development of penicillin, the treatment of bacterial infection was difficult or impossible. One of the most common treatments was to open the infection to allow the pus to drain. Advanced infections that could not be treated in this way, such as brain infections, would inevitably result in the death of the patient. Several bacterial infections could be treated in other ways, such as with infection specific drugs, but such treatment was often expensive, had unacceptable side effects, or relied on a definitive diagnosis.
- Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V. Penicillin antibiotics are historically significant because they are the first drugs that were effective against many previously serious diseases, such as syphilis, and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Penicillins are still widely used today, though many types of bacteria are now resistant. All penicillins are β-lactam antibiotics and are used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms.
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| abstract
| - Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V. Penicillin antibiotics are historically significant because they are the first drugs that were effective against many previously serious diseases, such as syphilis, and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Penicillins are still widely used today, though many types of bacteria are now resistant. All penicillins are β-lactam antibiotics and are used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. Penicillin is actively excreted, and about 80% of a penicillin dose is cleared from the body within three to four hours of administration.
- Penicillin was the first antibiotic, and is still, 60 years after its first use, one of the most widely used of the drugs. Prior to the development of penicillin, the treatment of bacterial infection was difficult or impossible. One of the most common treatments was to open the infection to allow the pus to drain. Advanced infections that could not be treated in this way, such as brain infections, would inevitably result in the death of the patient. Several bacterial infections could be treated in other ways, such as with infection specific drugs, but such treatment was often expensive, had unacceptable side effects, or relied on a definitive diagnosis. The possibilities of antibiotics arose when Alexander Fleming, a British doctor, was examining some bacterial cultures he was about to dispose of. He noticed that, quite by chance, some mold had grown on one of his culture plates, and the bacteria on the plate failed to colonize the same area. The mold was quickly identified as penicillium. However, how effective the mold could be was a matter of some contention. The mold itself is also fatal to human beings. Fleming himself thought that the substance would be little more than an antiseptic preparation for use in surgery. However, the active ingredient in the mold, soon dubbed penicillin, was found to still be effective in human patients even though the preparation was only about 3% pure. Moreover, the impurities had no toxic effect on patients. Even then, it was doubtful that the mold could be grown in sufficient quantities to be useful as a pharmaceutical. Penicillium will only grown in the presence of oxygen, so it only grew on the surface of cultures. Moreover, a large amount of the mold had to be processed to obtain a small amount of the pharmaceutical. Despite these problems, the initial clinical trials were extremely successful, with terminal patients literally being brought back to life after treatment. Thanks to the effort of an American team, a process was developed using corn liquor, a by-product of corn production, and aeration vessels to grow mass quantities of the mold. Fleming and the American team were eventually awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work. Today, penicillin is so inexpensive to produce that a supply good for several weeks only costs a few dollars. One of the benefits of penicillin and other antibiotics is that they act on so wide a range of bacterial diseases and have such mild side effects in most patients that patients can be treated without a definitive diagnosis. However, some patients are allergic to penicillin, and other antibiotics must be used on such patients. Moreover, some bacteria are either immune to penicillin or have become resistant to it. In such cases, other antibiotics must be prescribed. Penicillin works by attaching itself to the middle of bacteria as they divide, preventing them from forming a new cell wall. Instead, the bacterial cell just bursts. Penicillin resistant bacteria have evolved mechanisms to prevent penicillin molecules from attaching themselves.
- Penicillin was a medicine discovered on Earth by Alexander Fleming in 1928. In 1066, the Monk gave some anachronistic penicillin to the injured Eldred, telling Wulnoth that it was a sort of herb. (TV: "A Battle of Wits") In 2008, Plummer of the Pharm said that once they'd developed Reset for human use, it would be bigger than penicillin. (TV: Reset) In an alternative timeline accidentally created by the Fifth Doctor, the RMS Lusitania did not sink on 7 May 1915 and a petty criminal named Eric Charles Vincent (who died in the sinking of the Lusitania in the proper timeline) killed Alexander Fleming in a botched robbery attempt in December 1927 before the biologist discovered penicillin. Without the protection offered by penicillin, Earth fell prey to new strains of meningitis and pneumonia in 1956 and the survivors never developed a space programme. Consequently, the Knights of Velyshaa were not defeated by the Earth Alliance in 3562 as they otherwise would have been. (AUDIO: The Sirens of Time)
- On January 2, 2154, on the Enterprise (NX-01), Jay Hayes returns from a mission to a Xindi sphere with a cough. In competition with Malcolm Reed, he does not want anyone to know, but Lili O'Day hears him coughing, and offers to make him something to help. Swearing secrecy, she demands a small payment from him, that he smile on occasion. At the end of his life, Hayes recalls this incident, and wills her his lucky nickel, in full and final payment for his chicken soup debt (In Between Days: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere).
- Penicillin was first discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, though it was hardly paid much attention because of its difficulty to harvest on any useful scale. However, in 1938, a research group led by Professor Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford began to experiment with the substance’s medical properties. In May 1940, the group had produced enough of the substance to the point where they could test the substance’s effects on animals that had been given fatal doses of various diseases. The substance performed remarkably and more funding was requested to continue the research. Further testing in Early 1941 showed that penicillin had the potential to be a better remedy than the sulfonamide drugs which had been in wide-spread use at the time. However, if the anti-bacterial substance was to be distributed to the British armed forces, then a massive amount would be required. The existing methods for cultivation of the fungus were to either allow the fungus to grow on a liquid medium of about 1.6 centimeters and then pour out the liquid and harvest the penicillin after ten days or to use huge fermenters and allow the fungus to grow on small pellets and stir the mixture of liquid, fungus, and sterile air for only one to three days. Regardless, both methods proved to be far more than what the British industry could produce. Therefore, Norman Heatley, a worker on the project, was sent over to the United States in an attempt to persuade pharmaceutical companies to mass produce the drug. While hesitant at first, some companies did agree to join in on the development of penicillin and by 1942, enough had been produced to allow for human trials to begin. However, by Late 1942, there was still too little penicillin to make much of a difference in the treatment of wounded. Though, with the climbing requirement for penicillin to treat war wounded, eventually British corporations had ramped up production to produce up to 38 million units of the drug by mid-1943, most of which were sent to North Africa to treat wounded British troops. Following an August 1943 visit to to Washington D.C. by a British team of chemists and professors to stress the importance of penicillin production in the United States, American and Canadian production of penicillin also skyrocketed, then producing enough penicillin to treat any wounded that required the drug. Production of penicillin would continue on throughout the war and long after it as a very effective anti-biotic.
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