316 OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE 



vestigators succeeded in obtaining crude active preparations of peni- 

 cillin which, they demonstrated, had a marked effect upon various 

 gram-positive and certain other bacteria in the animal body. The im- 

 portance of this discovery was accentuated by the great need of the 

 moment and the urgency for new methods of combating infections re- 

 sulting from World War II. These investigations immediately at- 

 tracted universal attention, and were soon followed by remarkable de- 

 velopment in the manufacture, isolation, and study of the chemical na- 

 ture of this highly important antibiotic agent. Penicillin fully deserves 

 the designation "Wonder Drug" given to it by the popular press. 



These two epoch-making contributions were rapidly followed by a 

 series of investigations that resulted in the isolation of a number of 

 other antibiotics. Among these, streptomycin deserves special considera- 

 tion because of its activity against various gram-negative bacteria and 

 M. tuberculosisy which are not affected by tyrothricin or penicillin, and 

 because of its limited toxicity to animals and its activity in vivo. 



It was soon recognized that one is not dealing here with only three or 

 more types of chemical compounds capable of destroying various 

 pathogenic bacteria and fungi, but that a new field of science bordering 

 on microbiology, chemistry, pharmacology, pathology, and chemo- 

 therapy was being opened that was bound to result in many practical 

 applications. The fact that many of these agents, including penicillin, 

 are produced by several different organisms and, further, the fact that 

 many of these compounds are formed in several chemical modifications 

 open to the chemist new fields for the synthesis of types of compounds 

 heretofore unknown, and point out to the medical world new ways of 

 combating infections and epidemics. 



The rapid progress made in the utilization of antibiotics in so brief a 

 period of time can best be illustrated by the following two citations: 



On May 4, 1940, Garrod (3 1 8), in discussing the use of antiseptics in 

 wounds, wrote: "Only a few years ago it was thought impossible to kill 

 bacteria within the body with chemicals and likely always to remain so. 

 This belief was shaken by the discovery of a urinary antiseptic which 

 really worked, and it was shattered by the introduction of Prontosil, 

 with all its manifold consequences. Are we still to deny the possibility of 

 killing bacteria which are merely lying on a body surface?" 



