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    Most Important Scientific Breakthrough

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    danae crawford
    Antibacterial drugs have been one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the past 300 years. Diseases like smallpox, cholera, and diphtheria had no treatments until the 1920s, when Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from a mold in his laboratory. This marked the beginning of the antibiotic era between 1940-1962, when most modern antibiotics were discovered and introduced. The widespread use of antibiotics has lessened mortality from diseases, improved survival rates, enabled many medical procedures, and extended the average human lifespan by over 20 years.

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    Most Important Scientific Breakthrough

    Uploaded by

    danae crawford
    15 views1 page
    Antibacterial drugs have been one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the past 300 years. Diseases like smallpox, cholera, and diphtheria had no treatments until the 1920s, when Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from a mold in his laboratory. This marked the beginning of the antibiotic era between 1940-1962, when most modern antibiotics were discovered and introduced. The widespread use of antibiotics has lessened mortality from diseases, improved survival rates, enabled many medical procedures, and extended the average human lifespan by over 20 years.

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    Antibacterial drugs have been one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the past 300 years. Diseases like smallpox, cholera, and diphtheria had no treatments until the 1920s, when Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from a mold in his laboratory. This marked the beginning of the antibiotic era between 1940-1962, when most modern antibiotics were discovered and introduced. The widespread use of antibiotics has lessened mortality from diseases, improved survival rates, enabled many medical procedures, and extended the average human lifespan by over 20 years.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    15 views1 page

    Most Important Scientific Breakthrough

    Uploaded by

    danae crawford
    Antibacterial drugs have been one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the past 300 years. Diseases like smallpox, cholera, and diphtheria had no treatments until the 1920s, when Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from a mold in his laboratory. This marked the beginning of the antibiotic era between 1940-1962, when most modern antibiotics were discovered and introduced. The widespread use of antibiotics has lessened mortality from diseases, improved survival rates, enabled many medical procedures, and extended the average human lifespan by over 20 years.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    In my opinion the most important scientific breakthrough over the 300 years has to be the

    development of antibacterial drugs. Antibacterial drugs are chemical substances used to inhibit
    the growth of bacteria. For many years the people of this earth had to face gruesome diseases
    and illnesses caused by unknown pathogens or internal dysfunction. Examples of such
    diseases and illnesses are: smallpox, cholera and diphtheria. They had no treatments, cures or
    vaccinations, NOTHING! However, in the late 1920s, a wise man by the name of DR. Alexander
    Fleming discovered the first true antibiotics and changed the lives of millions of people in his
    time and future generations. Dr. Fleming was developing an antibacterial agent when he noticed
    that the growth of a pathogen he was studying, was restrained by a mold contaminating the petri
    dish that holds the pathogen "10 Scientific Breakthroughs We Literally Couldn't Live Without"
    (Kiger, Cancio & Kershner 2010). This mold was later identified as a rare strain of Penicillium
    notatum and was capable of killing a wide range of harmful bacteria, such as diphtheria bacillus.
    Fleming published his findings in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology in June 1929,
    with only a passing reference to penicillin's potential therapeutic benefits. Soon a global search
    was underway for better penicillin producing strains, with soil samples being sent to the NRRL
    from around the world; American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical Landmarks.
    Discovery and Development of Penicillin (American Chemical Society ACS, n.d.). After Dr.
    Fleming's and others' discoveries was the golden era of antibiotics which was between the time
    period of 1940 - 1962. Most of the antibiotics we use as medicines today were discovered and
    introduced to the market. Each class typically contains several antibiotics that have been
    discovered over time or are modified versions of previous types. Fair, R. J. & Tor, Y. Antibiotics
    and bacterial resistance in the 21st century. Perspect Medicin Chem 6, 25–64 (2014).
    The use of antibacterial drugs has lessened mortality of diseases, improved survival, made
    many modern medical procedures possible and changed the world for the better. How has it
    changed the world? In just over 100 years antibiotics have drastically changed modern medicine
    and extended the average human lifespan by 23 years. (Elsevier Ltd, 2019)

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