Preview

Penicillin Kills Bacteria

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
146 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Penicillin Kills Bacteria
Penicillin is an effective drug to combat bacterial infections because it targets bacteria-specific proteins and has no effect on human proteins. A bacteria divides and penicillin stops it from reforming/making a new cell wall, and the two daughter cells “pop”. However, penicillin does not combat/work on all types of bacterial infections, it is really effective against gram-positive bacteria. Penicillin is a class of medications with a characteristic ring (β-lactam ring). Penicillin inhibits its target protein by mimicking (copying) D-alanine-alanine. Penicillin kills bacteria by inhibiting the proteins which cross-link peptidoglycans in the cell wall, When a bacterium divides in the presence of penicillin, it cannot fill in the “holes” left
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    BIO 104 Chapter 3
    • 7229 Words
    • 29 Pages

    BIO 104 Chapter 3

    peptidoglycan, penicillin weakens the cell wall, which is then no longer able to counteract osmotic water pressure. Eventually, the cell bursts (Infographic 3.5). Bacteria are not the only organisms with a cell wall (plant cells and certain fungi have them, too), but they are the only ones that have a cell wall made of peptidoglycan—which is why penicillin is such a selective bacteria killer. Ironically, despite its remarkable killing powers, penicillin was not immediately recognized as a medical breakthrough when it was first discovered. In fact, Fleming didn’t think his mold had much of a future in medicine.…

    • 7229 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Miss Havisham & Lady Macbeth similarities/differences
    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Miss Havisham & Lady Macbeth similarities/differences

    Antibiotics are chemicals that we use to treat infection, often bacterial infections. They work by either killing the bacteria or by stopping them dividing and growing. Some work by interfering with enzymes that are essential in the replication of genetic material (either DNA or RNA) in the bacterial cells or in protein synthesis. Some work just by blocking the sites where enzymes usually join to the substrate, so they can’t join on and catalyse the reaction.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Alexander Fleming Contribute To The Discovery Of Penicillin
    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Did Alexander Fleming Contribute To The Discovery Of Penicillin

    First of all, penicillin was discovered by a bacteriologist Alexander Fleming. This scientist discovered it by accident. He went away for a while and when he came back a mold was covering all his petri dishes. Fleming did some testing with a particular dish that caught his eye and it was bacteria-free. According to the text it states that, “ The mold was a rare spore called Penicillium notatum, which had wafted on air currents into his lab from another floor.”…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Alexander Florey: Does That Name Ring A Bell?
    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Alexander Florey: Does That Name Ring A Bell?

    In Conclusion, penicillin has come a long way in a sense of development. It took a while for penicillin to develop into what is not a super antibiotic. Penicillin has now saved millions of lives and will continue to do…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Alexander Fleming: The Invention Of Penicillin
    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Alexander Fleming: The Invention Of Penicillin

    Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 which was the first antibiotic that fights bacteria. During the 1900's pneumonia was one of the leading killers in America prior to the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin is important as it prevents previous life-threatening infections like pneumonia, blood infection, meningitis, and strep throat. In addition, because of penicillin, several amputations, and deaths (due to infection) during the second world war decreased. Many people have benefited from the invention of penicillin since its discovery and one of them was me. When I was a young kid, I had strep throat and my doctor prescribed me Penicillin. Infections that were life-threatening in the past can be cured with medicine. Another explanation…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Annotated Bibliography
    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Annotated Bibliography

    Antibiotics are drugs that kill bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic by serendipity. Most antibiotics work by preventing the cell wall from producing peptoglycan. There are two types of antibiotics. The first is bacteriocidal.It kills the bacteria directly. The second is bacteriostatic. This method stops the bacteria from multiplying.…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Howard Florey
    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Howard Florey

    Fleming would, unfortunately, make a prediction that would come true. That the use of penicillin would, in time, be of limited value because bacteria would eventually recombine genetically to resist the effects of penicillin. By as early as 1952, as much as three-fifths of all staph infections were penicillin resistant. Various steps were taken so as to continue the use of antibiotics. New antibiotics are constantly being sought for this reason. Other approaches include using combination of antibiotics and changing the chemical structure of antibiotics in the laboratory so that all of slightly different properties. These attempts have all been tried and have been successful, but unfortunately, the bacteria are still recombining…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    1918 Life Changes
    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages

    1918 Life Changes

    Life before September 1928 proved to be a difficult time for many. The quality of life across the world was poor, and humans had a considerably shorter lifespan than today. Bacterial infections ranked as a leading cause of death. These infections spread easily, and diseases such as pneumonia, syphilis, gonorrhea, diphtheria, and scarlet fever as well as wounds and childbirth infections killed thousands every year. Surgical infections were also a major killer, and doctors had no protection from any of these infections. The discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 changed the lives of people forever. Penicillin provided a cure for many deadly infections, and its discovery led to the discovery of many other antibiotics, such as streptomycin, which are used to treat everyday infections for countless ailments, saving and improving lives throughout the world.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Was Penicillin Important
    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Why Was Penicillin Important

    Penicillin soon was known as the “miracle drug” of the war, curing diseases and saving the lives of millions. The discovery of penicillin changed the lives of everyone on the globe, but it also changed the course of medicine. With the development of penicillin, diseases that were once seen as fatal, such as bacterial meningitis and pneumococcal pneumonia, finally had an easy, treatable, solution. In the 1930s pneumococcal pneumonia would be treated with antisera and sulfonamides.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Super Germ Research Paper
    • 1748 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Super Germ Research Paper

    Long before humans discovered antibiotics, they existed in nature. So naturally, after penicillin was introduced, some germs were already naturally resistant to the drug. As we used more and more of the antibiotics, we incidentally caused drug-resistant germs to progress. So, even if you’ve never misused antibiotics, you could still become infected by bacterium most drugs won’t kill. For each drug, there are germs genetically programmed to survive- some w/ outer walls tough for antibiotic to cross, others with ways to dump the drugs back out before they can work, and yet others can inactivate the antibiotic. Even worse, by passing tiny packets of genetic material to other bacteria, these survivor germs sometimes also pass the formula for resistance to the other bacteria. The best way you can protect yourself and your family against…

    • 1748 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Medical Advancements
    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Medical Advancements

    One may argue that one of the most helpful drugs during word war two, penicillin, was discovered in 1960, prior to world war two. Although penicillin wasn’t discovered during world war two, it was improved on many levels during the time such as production on an industrial scale, it became much more readily available, and by 1945 it was 20 times stronger than the 1939 version of penicillin. Therefore, even though penicillin was developed pre world war two, it made extreme improvements since 1939. It was 20 times stronger than the 1939 version.…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Penicillin Impact
    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Penicillin Impact

    According to scientist Katie Kalvaitis, “Penicillin helped reduce the number of deaths and amputations of troops during World War II” (Oatman). Because of less deaths, more troops were able to keep fighting. Also, there were many less tragic wounds or incidences. An online article says penicillin is an effective way to save troops “by attacking open wounds with penicillin and sterilization surgeries with antiseptics, army doctors were able to revitalize troops more quickly” (Bradley). With more troopers being saved or cured, America’s soldiers could remain healthy and go back to the front line or battlefield. This resulted in an effective way of helping America win the wars. “Penicillin was used in World War II to keep infections from spreading” (Bradley). Jeremy Bradley is stating that most diseases were stopped and prevented from spreading to others around the person infected. This helped prevent the deaths of people throughout the camp. Jeremy Bradley also says “Penicillin was also used to solve a problem that plagued the battlefield- the wait time between when a soldier was wounded and when he was seen by a doctor for surgery or treatment” (Bradley). A doctor was very stressed when trying to cure every soldier wounded, but when they could quickly apply penicillin, the stress amount decreased. As a result,…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Importance Of Penicillin In World War II
    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Importance Of Penicillin In World War II

    During the war, penicillin was proven to cure many diseases and wounds that were a curse to the armies. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 changed everything, soldiers and civilians died from pneumococcal infections. Great quantities of penicillin were used to treat infections suffered by wounded and ill soldiers during World War II. By attacking open wounds with penicillin, army doctors were able to revitalize troops more quickly. The drug helped reduce the overall number of deaths. Fleming's findings were very important, he was never able to purify penicillin or produce it in mass quantities, however WWII provided a new incentive…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mechanism of Action
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mechanism of Action

    All cephalosporins (β-lactam antibiotics) inhibit cell wall production and are selective inhibitors of peptidoglycan synthesis. The initial step in drug action consists of binding of the drug to cell receptors, called Penicillin-Binding Proteins. After a β-lactam antibiotic has bound to these receptors, the transpeptidation reaction is inhibited and peptidoglycan synthesis is blocked. Bacterial lysis is the end result.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Antibiotics
    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Antibiotics

    is to either inhibit the growth of pathogens or to kill them. Antibiotics can thus be divided…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More