OT: Antibiotics are the best, roses not so much

Teddahlia

"The quintessentially serendipitous discovery was the isolation of Penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1929. Most people are only aware of the popular version of its discovery -- a petri dish containing fungus mould had been accidentally left behind in his laboratory by a brilliant scientist." Google
I am still alive because of Penicillin given to me at age 5 when my heart pericardium was infected. A giant needle was inserted into the sac and fluid taken out. I will add some more to this story: The first recipient of penicillin had been infected by a random scratch from one of the horrible plants called "ROSES". The rose thorn scratched his head near his eye and the infection caused him to lose the eye and he was not going to live. He was given the first shot of Penicillin and the next day the infection was nearly gone. However, thay ran out of Penicillin and he died before more could be made.
What do cantaloupes have to do with this? They needed a new mold that made more of the active ingredient in Penicillin and they tried about every kind of mold. One of the people on the team brought n a moldy cantaloupe in and it turned out to be the one that had 200 times more Penicillin in it. That was the version that saved my life.

I plagiarized this story from the Bill Bryson book about the human body. The part about me almost dying is true.

KitCMC

Teddahlia wow, that’s an incredible story. Lucky for us all that everything worked out.
In a previous life, I worked in the fermentation labs of a pharmaceutical company where antibiotics were made. The smell would knock you off your feet.

blown_dry

I'm fond of Bill Bryson. I read "A Walk In The Woods" to my kids at bedtime. Questionable parenting decision maybe, but we still tell each other "Biiiig Mistake." So glad you made it, Ted.

calico20hill

And thus the Dahlia Lama was saved to brighten our world! I am so happy the mold and you were made acquaintances at such a young age !

The other side of the story is that Drs then used the miracle drug for everything that caused infections to see if it would work. I am almost exactly a year older then Ted and by the time I was 7 or 8 I was allegic to any medication with pennicillin in it. I am sure that many of us are alive today (Or our parents lived to have us which is sort of the same thing) because of the miracle of antibiotics. But it reminds us to use all "miracles" with caution and good sense . (Like immediately cleaning any scrapes we get in the garden, including by rose thorns.) And yes, I handle roses all season because I love them, but I am aware of the danger that lurks in the cleanest looking gardens. And I keep my immunizations up to date, including tetanus.