Sir Alexander Fleming

                                                                                                                     Shahzada Nazar Abbas

Subject Specialist (English)

SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING

EXCIERCISE QUESTIONS

Q.NO.1:  What are antiseptics and what is the antiseptic method?

ANSWER:

 Carbolic acid, iodine, and other chemicals are called antiseptics. In the past, they were used to kill germs on the patient’s body. The use of such chemicals to destroy germs is called the antiseptic method. The chief defect of the antiseptic method is that it kills the white blood cells of the body.

 

Q.NO.2:  What was the chief defect of the antiseptic method?

ANSWER:

  Carbolic acid, iodine, and other chemicals are called antiseptics. In the past, they were used to kill germs on the patient’s body. The use of such chemicals to destroy germs is called the antiseptic method. The chief defect of the antiseptic method is that it kills the white blood cells of the body.

 

Q.NO.3:  What part is played by the white cells in the blood of the human body?    

ANSWER:

Leucocytes are the white blood cells of a body. They are a natural defense system of a body. When the germs enter the body, white blood cells attack them and finish them. The disease is in fact a fight between germs and white blood cells.

 

Q.NO.4:  Give an account of the early life of Fleming?

ANSWER:

  Fleming was born on a farm near Darvel. He got his early education from the Darvel School. He also joined Kilmarnock Academy and Regent Street polytechnic school.  At the age of 16, he worked as a clerk in a shipping firm. Then on getting a share from the legacy, he adopted medicine.

 

Q.NO.5:  Describe how Fleming discovered penicillin.

ANSWER:

  Fleming was carrying out experiments on germs. Suddenly, a mould spore fell into the culture plate. The germs started to disappear. Fleming carried out further experiments and found it friendly to white blood cells. Penicillin proved to be stronger than carbolic acid.

 

Q.NO.6:  In what respect is penicillin better than the chemical antiseptic?

ANSWER:

  Penicillin is three times stronger than other chemical antiseptics. The chemical antiseptics were harmful to white blood cells while penicillin helped the white blood cells in the fight against the disease. It revolutionized the war wounds.

 

Q.NO.7:  What do you know about the oxford team?

ANSWER:

  Fleming failed to concentrate penicillin because he lacked both equipment and training. So, an oxford team headed by Professor Howard Florey and E.B Chain succeed in concentrating penicillin.

 

Q.NO.8:  How did they make penicillin more effective?

ANSWER:

  The oxford team went to America where new methods of manufacture had been invented. They produced penicillin in the purified form. They were also able to concentrate it. In this way, they made penicillin more effective.

 

Q.NO.9:  Write a note on penicillin as a wonder drug?

ANSWER:

  Penicillin was a wonder drug. Penicillin is three times stronger than other chemical antiseptics. The chemical antiseptics are harmful to the white blood cells while penicillin helps the WBC in the fight against the disease. It revolutionized the war wounds.

 

Q.NO.10:  Was Fleming proud of his discovery?

ANSWER:

 Fleming was not proud of his discovery. He said that he had not invented it. He discovered it by chance. He was not happy in the limelight. He protested that such gratitude was not due on him.

 

Q.NO.11:  Why couldn’t penicillin have been discovered in the research laboratories of America?

ANSWER:

  Fleming visited American research laboratories. They were clean, dustless, and air-conditioned. Fleming surprised his hosts by saying that penicillin could not be discovered in these labs because no mould spore or fungus could enter in such closed and clean labs.

Shahzada Nazar Abbas

Subject Specialist (English)

 

Q.NO.12:  Fleming’s achievement paved the way for other discoveries in the medical field. What are they?

ANSWER:

  Fleming discovered penicillin from a common mould spore. It paved way for other scientists to find natural antiseptics from nature. Most of the natural antiseptics of today are a result of Fleming’s discovery.

 

 

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

 

Q.NO.1:  Who was Lord Lister? What did he discover?

ANSWER:

 

  Lord Lister was the first medical peer. He killed the germs with carbolic acid. He discovered the antiseptic method to kill germs in the operation theater and on the patient’s skin.

 

Q.NO.2:  What was the disadvantage of the antiseptic method?

ANSWER:

   Carbolic acid, iodine, and other chemicals are called antiseptics. In the past, they were used to kill germs on the patient’s body. The use of such chemicals to destroy germs is called the antiseptic method. The chief defect of the antiseptic method is that it kills the white blood cells of the body.

 

Q.NO.3:  Why are the Flemings called a medical family?

ANSWER:

Fleming’s elder brother was an oculist. His other two brothers were opticians. One sister married a Darvel doctor and another married a veterinary surgeon. Fleming adopted medicine for studies. So, the Flemings were becoming a medical family.

 

Q.NO.4:  Why did Fleming choose St. Mary School for his studies?

ANSWER:

  Fleming chose St. Mary School because once he had played a water polo match against the hospital team.

 

Q.NO.5:  What is the lysozyme and how did Fleming discover it?

ANSWER:

Lysozyme is the nasal secretions. Once Fleming was suffering from catarrh. He was examining his own nasal secretions. He discovered a substance that killed the germs. He called it Lysozyme. It was the first natural antiseptic.

 

Q.NO.6:  How did Fleming and Wright work together?

ANSWER:

Fleming worked in Wright’s laboratory for eight years. Both of them worked on the infected wounds. They tried to discover an antiseptic that should not harm the white blood cells. They were against the use of carbolic acid, iodine, and heat to cure wounds.

 

Q.NO.7:  When was Fleming knighted?

ANSWER:

  Fleming was knighted in 1944 and he was also awarded Nobel Prize in 1945.

 

Q.NO.8:  What did a man say to his sons at a medical gathering?

ANSWER:

  In Italy, a man along with his three sons came to Fleming and thanked him for discovering penicillin. He asked his sons to pray for Fleming in each of their prayers.                                                Shahzada Nazar Abbas

Subject Specialist (English)