Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Discovery of Penicillin Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Young Akbar, The Old Man at the Bridge and Rustum and Sohrab so, you can check these posts as well.
The Discovery of Penicillin Questions & Answers
Question 1: Answer the following questions:
(a) What is the wonder drug?
Answer: Penicillin is the wonder drug.
(b) Where was the medical conference held?
Answer: The medical conference was held in Verona, Italy.
(c) Who was the famous bacteriologist who joined St. Mary’s Hospital?
Answer: Sir Almroth Wright was the famous bacteriologist who joined St. Mary’s Hospital.
(d) What did he notice on the culture?
Answer: He noticed a bright green ring on the culture.
(e) What was destroying the culture?
Answer: A mould was destroying the culture.
(f) In which medium did the mould grow best?
Answer: In sugar solution, the mould grew best.
(g) Who continued Fleming’s work?
Answer: Dr. Howard Florey and Dr. E.B Chain continued Fleming’s work.
(h) What were the tiny golden drops?
Answer: The tiny golden drops were penicillin.
Question 2: Why was the man with the three children eager to see Alexander Fleming?
Answer: The man with the three children was eager to see Alexander Fleming because his children owed their lives to him.
Question 3: Why did Alexander Fleming choose bacteriology as his special subject?
Answer: Fleming was Prof. Wright’s student at St. Mary’s Hospital. Prof. Wright taught bacteriology with great mastery and thoroughness. So, Fleming was greatly attracted to the subject and he chose it as his special subject.
The Discovery of Penicillin Questions & Answers
Question 4: Why did a large number of wounded soldiers of World War I die?
Answer: A large number of wounded soldiers of World War I died because their wounds developed an infection and there was no antiseptic for their treatment.
Question 5: Why were the antiseptics then in use unsatisfactory?
Answer: The antiseptics then in use were unsatisfactory because they harmed the body.
Question 6: What problem did Fleming work on after he returned to St. Mary’s Hospital?
Answer: When Fleming returned to St. Mary’s Hospital, he started working on the following problems:
i. How the microbes were formed?
ii. How the microbes were to be destroyed?
Question 7: What is a mould?
Answer: A mould is a growth of very small plants which can be seen on food, old clothes and leather when they are left for some time in warm and moist air.
Question 8: What did Alexander Fleming discover about the green mould?
Answer: Alexander Fleming discovered that the green mould was a powerful germ-killer.
Question 9: What qualities are indispensable to a scientist?
Answer: Alertness, curiosity and keen observation are the qualities that are indispensable to a scientist.
Question 10: What did Alexander Fleming want to obtain from the mould?
Answer: Alexander Fleming want to obtain a drug for killing germs from the mould.
The Discovery of Penicillin Questions & Answers
Question 11: How did Fleming and his fellow-bacteriologists satisfy themselves that the drug was effective on humans?
Answer: Fleming and his fellow-bacteriologists tried their drug on mice and found them to be cured. Then, they tried it on a dying patient who recovered completely. Thus, they satisfied themselves that this thing was effective on humans.
Question 12: What were the two important results of the discovery of penicillin?
Answer: The two important results of the discovery of penicillin were:
i. Many diseases are cured by penicillin.
ii. Many new drugs have been discovered as a result of this work.
Question 13: How was the penicillin drug separated from the mould?
Answer: Fleming found that the penicillin mould by itself did not kill germs. The mould contained a drug and it was this drug that killed germs. Fleming wanted to extract the drug from the mould. In 1929, he published his findings. Dr. Howard Florey and Dr. E.B Chain continued Fleming’s work. They carried out several experiments and saw that the penicillin mould grew best in a sugar solution. They were able to prepare the right solution and saw some tiny golden drops on the mould. These were really the drops of the drug. They collected these drops and the drops turned into white powder when dried.
Question 14: How was the penicillin tested and its effectiveness proved?
Answer: Penicillin was first of all tested on mice. Fleming and his fellow scientists took a number of mice and gave these certain powerful disease germs. Some of the mice were given penicillin injections and others were left untreated. The next morning all the untreated mice were found dead. Those who had been given penicillin injections were cured completely. The next step was to try the drug on humans. A man had been suffering from a serious disease for many years and it looked certain he would die. Fleming and his fellow-scientists wanted to try the new drug on this patient. They were certain of its effectiveness and gave the patient one or two injections. He began to recover gradually and was given a few more injections. The man recovered completely. Thus, the effectiveness of penicillin was proved.
So, these were The Discovery of Penicillin Questions & Answers.