节目组: The World Says 世界说
节目名称: penicillin: breaking the mould 青蒿素
I:Hello everyone, welcome to the world says from the VOE foreign language station. This is Iris.
S:And I'm Sherlock（trattles a bottle of pills)
I:What have you got there,Sherlock?
S:Antibiotics.I had a blister on my big toe,and it got infected.
My whole toe swelled up like a balloon!
The swelling has gone down now with these little wonder drugs.
Look,I'll show you.
I:No,Sherlock.Please keep your socks on.Thank you.
Now,the subject of today's show is penicillin,which was one of the first antibiotics to be discovered.
So,Sherlock,can you tell me how many lives penicillin has saved since its first use as a medicine in1942?
Isit...a)20million?
b)200million? Or c)2billion?
S:Well,I'll say b)200 million.That sounds like a good number.
MUSIC
I:OK,well,we'll see if you're right or wrong later on in the show.Now,penicillin is a common antibiotic-or substance that kills microorganisms.
S:And it was discovered in 1928 by a Scottish scientist called Alexander Fleming who noticed some mould growing on apetridish of bacteriain his lab,
which had a halo-or circle-around it where no bacteria were growing.
Mould,by the way,is the soft green fuzzy stuff that grows...
for example,in the bottom of my coffee cups when I forget to wash the mup,iris.
I:We didn't need to know that,Sherlock
S:OK,well,moving on,it took decades before scientists learned how to successfully manufacture penicillin.
But they got there just in time to treat huge numbers of soldiers in World War Two.
where so many men were dying from infected wounds
I:And you could have died from your infected toe,Sherlock,before penicillin!
S:That is a sobering thought,isn't it cherry?Well,cherry,could you talking about how penicillin has been a game changer in the field of medicine.
I:Easy.The sort of cancer chemotherapy which we currently use,which immunosuppress people,we couldn't possibly consider that without the use of antibiotics.
So not only has penicillin opened the door for treating people with infection,
it's also essentially paved the way for modern interventional medicine that we benefit from now.
Chemotherapy is a chemical treatment used to kill cancer cells that also suppresses-or stops-the body's immune system from working.
S:The immune system is our body's defence against infection and disease.
So cancer patients have to take antibiotics to prevent infections that the body can't fight off by itself.
I:And the discovery of penicillin paved the way for chemotherapy and other types of medical treatment.
-S:umm. to pave the way means to make something possible.
But,surely,iris,there are some bacteria that penicillin doesn't kill?
I:You are right.It only works against bacteria with proteins that are sensitive to penicillin.
Other types are less sensitive,
and also have systems built into the structure of the cell that sweep out harmful compounds,such as penicillin.
S:And what about that superbug,what's it called...MS...MR...MSR...?
I:MRSA,Sherlock
This bacterium was sensitive to penicillin but has developed a resistance to it,
and to other antibiotics,meaning the drugs can't harm it any more.
S:Are we returning to the past,then,iris,where people like me might die from an infected toe?
I:Well,it's possible,Sherlock.But drug-resistance isn't new.
cherry,penicillin in the contemporary must be a new invention, after all,it saved so many lives.
C:Penicillin is not new.It's been around for millions,probably hundreds of millions of years in the soil.And it's because the moulds protect themselves with it.And infact you find resistance to penicillin in the most unlikely places.
You find it for example in corpses from before Columbus in the New World.
by the way,Sherlock,have you ever use the penicillin before?
I:umm,I remember When I was a kid, I was infected by some terrible bacteria.I feel very bad.So,the doctor gave me a prescription for a week of penicillin, in the way of intravenous injection,then I was cured.But when I heard the report of a large number of drug resistance to antibiotics is very worried.
C:Well, you have this awareness is a good thing.But there is not much resistance to bacteria.
Long term use of an antibiotic can cause drug resistance. No matter how to eat antibiotics, there will be drug resistance, drug resistance is inherent in bacteria or in the survival of the nature of the variability, it is an objective existence.
I:thank you cherry,wonderful explanation. So penicillin was discovered in 1928 but it's actually been around for hundreds of millions of years.
S:Yes.And scientists have been able to test bacteria present in very old corpses-or dead bodies-discovered in the new world.
-that's North and south America-and found that some of it was resistant to penicillin.But penicillin resistance is growing,isn't it?
I:Yes.These days we over use penicillin both in agriculture and human medicine,
which has given bacteria the chance to adapt and fight back.
S:So it's almost out of effect, is it.
I:Not yet.So it's now up to scientists to adapt penicillin to extend its lifespan,and to search for new types of antibiotics.
S:But prevention is better than cure,isn't it?We should all wash our hands more and it's a fantastic way of killing bacteria.
I:Yes.Good point,Sherlock,but washing your hands didn't cure your toe,did it?Now,remember I asked you earlier:How many lives has penicillin saved since its first use as a medicine in 1942?
Was it...a)20 million,b)200 million or c)2 billion?
S:And I said b)200million.
I:And you were right!Penicillin became the most effective life-saving drug in the world,conquering diseases such as tuberculosis,gangrene,pneumonia,diphtheria,and scarlet fever它可以治疗肺结核、坏疽、肺炎、白喉和猩红热。
S:And made Alexander Fleming an international hero for discovering it.
Well,you know,cherry,Alexander Fleming is a great man.But I heard other people have some criticism on him.
C:Due to penicillin have saved the lives of millions of people, and the future will surely save more lives, so there is no importance to Fleming who invented the question.
S:So do you think it's important for him to have a place in history?
I:His exact position in a list, such as in the book of the location, nature depends on how many people think the credit should work in Florey and chain.
S:florey and chain is the improvement and purification of penicillin.
C:I think the main credit should be attributed to Fleming, because he made a major discovery. Without him, it might have been a lot of years before he could invent penicillin. And his results were published, sooner or later will be the production and purification of penicillin advanced technology, which is natural.
S:Now,let's hear the words we learned today.They are:
antibiotic抗生素
halo光圈
mould霉
chemotherapy化疗
suppresses抑制
immune system免疫系统
pave the way铺平道路
resistance抗性
corpses尸体
C:Ok, that's the all of today's program. At last, I urge everyone to use antibiotics discretely.
S: Goodbye everyone ,wish everyone health感谢制作苏鑫 感谢制作王紫丞
all: Bye~
节目监制：周宸聿
编辑：余若天 苗世钰 张燚铭
播音：余若天 苗世钰 张燚铭
制作：苏鑫
