The Rise Of Australasia
Chapter 496: Chapter 392: Penicillin_2

The person in charge of the Biological Research Lab is Alexander Fleming, a Briton of Australasian descent in his early 30s.

Four years ago, Fleming was invited to Australasia along with his mentor Wright and became an honorary professor of biology at the Australasia National University, where he conducted research in biochemistry.

Arthur had not forgotten this expert who discovered penicillin; after the establishment of the medical group, Arthur immediately appointed Fleming as the head of the largest biological research lab under his medical group, where he would work on immunopharmacological research.

This research direction, like his mentor Wright, is also currently Fleming's area of expertise.

As penicillin holds significant meaning for humanity, Arthur had conducted some research on the history of its discovery.

If Arthur remembers correctly, the discovery of penicillin involved many coincidences. Time, temperature, and cultivation environment were all crucial factors.

However, Arthur also remembers the discovery process of lysozyme. After reminding Fleming, he asked him to research antibacterial and immunological methods to prevent wound infections, and to create a vaccine or medicine to reduce the current risk of infection.

In order to expedite the development of penicillin, Arthur invested heavily.

Since the discovery of penicillin was so coincidental, he increased the number of experiments to push for the discovery of penicillin by chance.

For Fleming's research, Arthur has invested over 4 million Australian dollars in four years, employing hundreds of biologists, professors, and research workers, conducting a large number of experiments and research.

Hard work pays off; on January 9, 1915, Arthur finally received news that Fleming had discovered penicillin.

Research on penicillin had many twists and turns. Firstly, lysozymes had to be discovered. Fortunately, Arthur remembered the process of discovering lysozymes quite clearly. Thus, lysozymes were discovered more than three years ago.

However, lysozymes were still far from penicillin. After more than three years of research and numerous experiments, penicillin was finally discovered.

There must be several conditions in place for discovering penicillin. First, unidentified penicillium spores must fall into a staphylococcus culture medium.

Second, the culture medium must be placed at room temperature rather than the optimum growth environment of 37 degrees Celsius for staphylococcus.

Third, the climate environment of Australasia. It is worth noting that in early December, the weather in Australasia is not hot, even quite cool, making it very suitable for the growth and maturation of penicillium and the production of penicillin.

By mid to late December, the temperature had risen significantly, making it more conducive for staphylococcus to grow rapidly. This led to the phenomenon of bacterial lysis, prompting Fleming to discover penicillin in the culture medium, which caused the lysis phenomenon.

Upon Arthur's arrival at the research lab of the medical group, Fleming was still immersed in his research.

Fleming had a down-to-earth, silent, and unpretentious personality.

Even after completing Arthur's task and discovering penicillin, he showed no excessive joy and continued to immerse himself in his research.

Arthur did not disturb Fleming's research, but watched his operations with great interest from the side.

After an unknown period of time, Fleming finished his operations and was about to remove his gloves and wash his hands when he noticed Arthur standing nearby. He quickly straightened up and was about to salute and greet him when Arthur stopped him.

"It's alright, Mr. Fleming, continue your research. Your contribution to the discovery of penicillin is indeed great. Once penicillin has been completely separated and purified, everyone in the lab will have made a significant contribution. Mr.

Fleming, please bear with me for a while; once penicillin can be mass-produced, I will personally celebrate with you and the other experts in the lab!" Arthur waved his hand to stop Fleming's salute and spoke with a smile.

In the original history, it took more than ten years for penicillin to be discovered and put into use.

This included Fleming not properly recognizing the role of penicillin and not conducting extensive research, as well as the difficulties of separating and purifying penicillin.

Scientific research relies not only on ability but also on a little bit of luck.

The discovery of penicillin was a coincidence, and its purification is actually the result of both hard work and coincidence.

Separating and purifying penicillin requires several steps. First, isolate the bacteria strains to increase penicillin production.

Second, extract penicillin crystals, identify mold that provides more penicillin, and develop culture media for producing penicillium.

Once the culture media is prepared, large amounts of penicillium can be produced. With large amounts of penicillium, massive amounts of penicillin can be purified, allowing penicillin to be mass-produced. Stay informed on m-vl-em-pyr

As for the application of penicillin, Fleming plans to start detailed research.

At present, it is certain that penicillin has good antibacterial properties. However, for wound infections and various types of bacterial infections, a large number of experiments are needed to ensure that penicillin does not cause significant harm to the human body and can be commercially used as a drug.