Medicine

=__Medicine__=

What is Penicillin?
Penicillin is an antibiotic, or a medicine, used to kill bacteria, both after and during World War 2 as well as in the present. This medicine is derived, or taken from, a mold called Penicillium Notatum. This mold, at least its anti-bacterial properties, were first discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1929, when he saw a mold with out bacteria near it in a petri dish that he had placed bacteria in earlier. Fleming, a World War One veteren, realized the importance of this discovery and the usefulness in a time of war, but not a chemist he failed at creating a medicine from the mold. Later Ernst Chain and Howard Florey, chemists, continued the work with Penicillium Notatum and manged to create a medicine from it, with the funding of war time countries.

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[[image:http://textbookofbacteriology.net/themicrobialworld/sensitivity.jpg width="433" height="291"]]
The picture above shows penicillin (the white tablets) surrounded by bacteria (the yellowish film). As shown above the bactiera is killed near and around the penicillin.

How does it work?
Penicillin kills bacteria by preventing the creation of new cell walls as a cell tries to replicate itself. Without a cell wall, which protects a bacterial cell from osmotic pressure, a bacterial cell will soon die as well as be unable to reproduce. The Penicillin mold does this by deactivating an enzyme, transpeptidase, which is needed for cell division. However, transpeptidase accepts penicillin as a replacement and instead acts apon the penicillin rather than help the bacterial cell divide.

The picture above shows 2 bacteria cells; one cell that has been introduced to penicillin and one that has not. As is visible in the step by step photos, the cell that has been introduced to penicillin dies.

today
Today science has increased the capcity of penicillin by increasing the growth rate of the mold, both by feeding it corn steep liquor, as well as growing it with in a fermantation tank. This gives science and medicine more mold to create the actuall drug from. Through these advances death from invections has decreased to nearly 1/20th of what it was in the 1900.

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**__ X-Ray __**
X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, like visible light. X-rays are machines that send individual x-ray particles through the body. Dense structures will block x-ray particles and therefore appear white. Metal and contrast media will also appear white, while structures with air are black. Muscle, fat, fluid will be gray because their densities are in between that of flesh and of bone.
 * What is an X-ray?**


 * What does it look like?**

This picture is a representation of a typical x-ray machine that is used in hospitals.

Far to the right you will find x-rays, some of the smallest types of waves. The small waves mean they have a high amount of energy. X-rays, for comparison reasons, are smaller than ultraviolet light, or visible light.
 * Where are x-rays on the electromagnetic spectrum?**



X-rays were invented in 1895.
 * When was it invented?**

There were many reason why the x-ray was invented. The main reason was to find a way to see inside the body without surgically cutting into it. Back in the 19th century, or 1800s, the only way they could see inside the body was by opening it up surgically, which is obviously not the ideal way.
 * Why was the x-ray invented?**

A German scientist named Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen was a professor of physics in Bavaria. He accidentally discovered that by shooting streams of x-rays though a body creates a detailed image of the contents inside. How did he discover this accidentally considering it is such a complex experiment? Professor Roentgen had previously been exploring the way that electrical rays pass from an induction coil through a partially evacuated glass tube covered in black paper in a pitch black room. Wilhelm realized that they screen that was covering the tube was illuminated. By this observation he concluded that other things could be penetrated by the rays. The most important thing being his skin. He saw his own hand and the contrast between his bones and his invisible skin. He then later used a plate as opposed to the screen he had been using, and then he captured the image, therefore creating the first x-ray machine ever.
 * How was it invented?**

Everyone who learned about the new invention was amazed. There was a buzz of excitement that encompassed the new techonology. The excitement was so great that the x-ray even found its way into theatrical shows.
 * How did people react to it?**

The x-ray tube contains electrodes called cathodes and annodes. The cathode rays release energy in the form of an electric current. The electrons shoot towards the annode, which is on the other side of the x-ray tube and is on a disc made of tungsten, and heat it, releasing energy in the form of photons. Photons filtered through beam that gets absorbed by bone. The patient is placed between the machine and the film. The photons reach the film, causing a chemical reaction and make a picture, aka a radiographic or an x-ray. Above is a diagram that clearly shows how the x-ray functions. For another explanation view the video below. []
 * How does it work?**

There were negative effects of the x-ray machine that were caused by overexposure to the radiation that were realized some time after the invention of the machine, but these negative effects were later discovered to have positive uses such as for fighting cancers and skin diseases.

There are two major current uses of the x-ray. They are used in space, as well as in hospitals. How are they used in space? There are x-ray telescopes that gather photons from certain parts of the sky. The energy, time, and direction of the photons are recorded, and these measurements reveal information about density, composition, and temperature of far away celestial environments. NASA also uses x-rays to see spectral signatures of nickel and zinc that are embedded in Martian rocks. Yet another way x-rays are used in space are how they reveal the hot gases of supernovas. The supernovasare about ten million degrees Celsius, and the material created by the supernova smashes into gases that surround it along with dusts at about ten million miles per hour. If you compare the x-ray images you can learn how dust grains that are cool coexist with the super hot gases in supernovas.
 * How is it used today?**

The photograph above is of a supernova. Notice the different colors are all explosions at million of miles per hour.

Today, the x-ray is most prominently used in medicine. Hospitals have this vital machine that, without, they would not succeed and would not be anywhere near as efficient as they are now.

Below is a picture/diagram of an x-ray in a hospital.

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