The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 294

The Story of How a Peoria Housewife Sunday October 10 1976 THE MIAMI HERALD 6-BW HAIR DESIGNERS BEAUTY SALONS Hollywood 961-1598 Downtown 379 1155 163rd St 949-5303 Midway Mall 26I-28S2 Palm Springs S23-4262iT Palm Beach Mail Lauderhill Mall 587-902 And a Moldy Melon Saved the World RICHARD- SUPER CUTS AND STYLES FOR GALS AND GUYS able to continue their work because of intense German bombing in 1940 Coming to the United States they learned through another accidental set of circumstances of the big fermentation lab in Peoria With their help the lab which had been completed only a few months earlier immediately began trying to grow penicillin molds The Peoria laboratory turned over its successful penicillin moldgrowing process to drug companies in 1943 Supplies have increased and the costs went down In the early days penicillin cost $20 per 100000 units or about $200000 a pound Today the cost is about 1 3 cents per 100000 units Easy to wear easy to care for love our new geometric cuts free-moving styles PRECISION CUT 6 STYLE 1 12 50 2000 FORM 3 PERM reg '30 heat-activated perm includes reg cut shampoo set growths were surrounded bv clear areas The molds were killing the bacteria and they were no ordinary bacteria The dish contained streptococci bacteria the germ that causes strep throat rheumatic fever and scarlet -fever Excitedly he transferred the penicillin mold to other cultures containing bacteria that cause diphtheria and pneumonia These germs also were killed momentous discovery was greeted by a huge yawn from the scientific community said Cog-hill because its killing action was weak and the chemical was very unstable Fleming himself could do no more with it ELEVEN YEARS LATER the situation changed drastically World War II was in progress and the Germans had cut off exports of the SUlfa drugs The sulfas had some effect on infections but they were like a peashooter when later compared to the shotgun impact of penicillin Forced to look for other drugs two English scientists Howard Florey and Ernest Chain took a fresh look at penicillin Fleming Florey and Chain later received a Nobel Prize for their work F'lorey and Chain conducted the key experiments that showed the drug might be useful in medicine Mice were injected with big doses of germs that would surely kill them Then some of the mice were given a crude extract of penicillin These mice survived but control mice not given penicillin died The English researchers were hot on the trail but they were un- OPEN TODAY CRAZY DAYS SALE NOW IN PROGRESS TERMINAL FABRICS Mil SO Mil NIILE1H HOLLY FT LltlD POMP medals for helping to save tens of thousands of lives No one knew who she was And she never found out that it was her cantaloupe that made penicillin available worldwide There was yet a third development that could only have happened Peoria The penicillin mold is a finicky eater Its growth rate remained relatively poor despite all the different nutrient foods scientists fed it But one nutrient combination that a Peoria scientist stumbled on turned the molds into gluttons greatly increasing their production of penicillin The nutrient was corn steep liquor a waste product of corn milling One of the reasons the government set up the Peoria laboratory in the late was to find uses for waste products from farming processes The late Dr Andrew Moyer discovered that corn liquor could be used to grow molds and that the penicillin mold had a craving for it The liquor increased' penicillin production ten fold "The Peoria facility was the only laboratory in the country where the corn steep liquor medium would have been said Dr Robert Coghill former chief of the fermentation division RETIRED AND LIVING in Tacoma Wash Coghill looks at the development of penicillin in Peoria as a series of -understood "We were lucky So many things came together unexpectedly It was the scientific problem of the century handed to us on a silver platter and we solved he said The history of penicillin is notable for its lucky accidents In fact it came close to not being discovered and once discovered it came very near to being forgotten Fleming the easy-going British bacteriologist known for his sloppy laboratory one day noticed a strange mold contaminating a bacterial culture in a Petri dish The culture was ruined and the natural inclination Would be to toss the dish out Then Fleming looked more closely always the inquisitive scientist He saw that the mold Save 70 on famous Arabia of Finland Dinnerware CLOSE-OUT PATTERN An all white design for today at prices And all in open stock Be our guest buy it your way! One plate one platter one bowl or service for 3 or 8 or even 50 The prices are not to be believed the quantities are large but not without limit By RONALD KOTULAK Chtcago Tnbuno Service It Moldy Mary after all Not that she like to take the credit for helping to save the world irom germs But more than three decades after the drama unfolded in the dark days of World War II it turns out that it was an unsung and unknown Peoria 111 housewife who helped make penicillin a household word If there is such a thing as a miracle drug penicillin is it The first antibiotic to be discovered penicillin conquered bacterial infections ushering in the modern era of medicine It gave doctors their first true curative powers With penicillin a physician could cure once fatal common infections Before that he could merely sit by the bedside of the patient hoping for the best but usually powerless to prevent death ALL THIS MIGHT have been denied to mankind at least for some time if it had not been for some key people in Peoria Certainly the magic drug would not have been available to treat Allied troops during the critical closing years of the war without the Peoria When the War Production Board placed the development of penicillin on a high-priority basis it turned for help to the United States Department of Northern Regional Research Laboratory in Peoria The laboratory had the biggest and most sophisticated fermentation process for growing molds Penicillin is produced by molds of the Penicillin notatum family Hundreds of different penicillin molds from all over the world were shipped to Peoria for testing but all proved disappointing because their penicillin output was too little AT THE SAME TIME a young laboratory technician named Mary was given the assignment of visiting Peoria markets every Monday to pick up moldy fruit Naturally she earned the nickname According to the widely told story Mary returned to the lab with a rotten cantaloupe after one of her Monday morning rounds When scientist grew the cantaloupe mold their hearts began to pound with excitement Penicillin was pouring out at a rate 50 times higher than the original penicillin mold first identified by Alexander I leming in 1928 With a little refinement they selected some mutant molds that had a penicillin output 900 times higher than original '1 he cantaloupe strain was so remarkable that all of the penicillin produced in the world today is descended from that Peoria mold BUT IT Moldy Mary who found it according to Dr Kenneth Raper who was then in charge of isolating molds at the Peoria laboratory housewife in town knew we were looking for moldy food and she brought in the moldy said Raper now a microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison She handed the cantaloupe over to a guard and vanished She was never thanked never given any 2753 SW 27 Ave (1 Blk No of US 1) 'o Mon to it 116 856-3399 row OPEN STOCK PRICES regular sale 700 198 550 159 700 198 675 189 600 179 platter vegetable sauce casserole jam jar regular 2100 1200 700 2700 800 sale 629 349 198 795 239 dinner plate salad plate soup plate cup saucer fruit dish bowl boat Vh qt It's here 0 UPHOLSTERY FABRIC (17 wonderful open slock pieces to select from) other Arabia close-out patterns available at huge savings 0 9 1753 INF Second Avenue 11225 Dixie Highway (Open Sun 17813 Bixcayne BRd (Open Sun) Wo have' bolts fa bolts of plaids stripes tweeds velvets tapestries silks textures liners damasks ma tolasse chenille JaqLtards! nil beautiful seconds from the finest textile mills- save up to bo uith seconds' Mt can recommend custom workrooms Come see our selection! 0 9 fl DESIGNER SHOE UP TO CO CHARLES JOURDAN STANLEY PHILIPSON KKI ADLIB ANDREW GELLER FRAN DAVID LUIS MACCANTI MARTIN OSVALDO JA I i hikIh k'olU i LfQjUtagjCl'i luifitip i tin tinibuut ihopj irbour J60 tlll'JUtt IliHu cjtjl Jl I jilt II blvd tt 1 1 i jiwrl 1 oti 1 1 uJi ii oil west pnirt tw'jch.