Penicillin
青霉素
Another drug that has helped increase the standard of people's health is penicillin,
另一种有助于提高人们健康水平的药物是青霉素,
which is considered by many to be one of the most important medicines in contemporary society.
它被许多人认为是当代社会最重要的药物之一。
It was discovered by a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming in 1928.
1928年,苏格兰科学家亚历山大·弗莱明发现了它。
He noted that a dish in which he was trying to grow bacteria for an experiment looked abnormal - there was blue mould in it.
他注意到,他想为实验培养细菌的培养皿看起来不正常--上面有蓝色的霉菌。
It astoniched him to see the bacteria surrounding the mould dead, which meant that the mould had killed them.
看到霉菌旁边的细菌死掉令他很吃惊,这就意味着霉菌杀死了它们。
Fleming tried this mould out on another bacterium and found that it killed the bacterium too.
弗莱明将这种霉菌在另一种细菌上进行了试验,结果发现它也杀死了那种细菌。
He immediately realized that the mould might hace an application in treating illnesses caused by bacteria.
他立刻意识到,这种霉菌或许能够应用到帮助治疗由细菌引起的疾病上。
He named the liquid made from the mould ‘penicillin’.
他将霉菌里发现的这种液体叫作“青霉素”。