Penicillin, the Wonder Drug
Penicillin container
Details: Penicillin, the Wonder Drug [pdf] / History programme leaflet [pdf]
Key Stage: 4 and AS/A2
Length: 1-2 hours (adaptable)
Maximum number: See Planning a visit
Notes: Schools’ History Project GCSE syllabus
In 1928 Alexander Fleming made his legendary discovery of the antibacterial effects of a penicillin producing mould. But it was only during the Second World War that Oxford medical researchers, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, investigated methods of penicillin treatment and production. Florey and Chain, along with Fleming were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945.
The Museum’s collection contains original apparatus used by Florey and Chain, including ad hoc containers such as biscuit tins and bed pans adapted for use in harvesting the mould in wartime Oxford. Archive material and exhibits relating to Dorothy Hodgkin’s work on the X-ray analysis of penicillin are also on display.
After an introduction to the story of penicillin illustrated by objects from the Museum’s collection, students will be guided through a series of activities designed to draw out various themes and controversies which help to build an understanding of the social and historical factors involved in scientific developments. These activities include an exercise in sequencing and deconstructing historical images and a summary of key ideas.
This session can be adapted to consider ethical questions surrounding the development of modern medicines.
Electron density contour maps
