Penicillin – Historical Tidbits

  • Publication of transatlantic efforts on penicillin purification and production was embargoed by the British and US governments during WWII?

    Penicillin mold
    Penicillin mold
  • US companies were allowed to collaborate and share scientific information specifically to improve methods of penicillin production and were exempted from anti-trust laws which would have forbidden such anti-competitive behavior?
  • theβ-lactam structure was ultimately established  by X-ray crystallography proving the unusual configuration ofthe4-membered ring?

    Penicillin G
    Penicillin G
  • Ms. Anne Sheafe Miller, treated at Yale New Haven Hospital for puerperal sepsis at age 31, was the 1st recipient of penicillin in the USA?  She recovered and lived to the age of 90.
  • Florey noted that mycophenolic acid, an “antibiotic from Penicillium brevicompactum”, had antibacterial properties but also a very pronounced inoculum effect against Staphylococci?
    According to him, it has also useful activity against human and plant fungal pathogens but is notfungicidal.(It has since become an integral part of the immunosuppressive regimen for transplant patients)
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