EigoPro 2級 読解 — The Accidental Discovery of Antibiotics

The Accidental Discovery of Antibiotics Some of the greatest discoveries in science have happened not through careful planning, but by accident. One of the most famous examples is the discovery of penicillin, the world's first antibiotic — a medicine that kills harmful bacteria. It was found in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist, and it changed medicine forever. The story began when Fleming returned to his London laboratory after a holiday. Before leaving, he had been studying bacteria in small glass dishes, and he had left some of the dishes unwashed on his bench. When he examined them again, he noticed something strange: a spot of blue-green mould was growing in one dish, and all around it, the bacteria had been destroyed. Instead of simply throwing the spoiled dish away, Fleming became curious. He realised that the mould was producing a substance that killed bacteria, and he named it penicillin. It took more than a decade, and the work of many other scientists, to turn Fleming's observation into a usable medicine. But once penicillin could be produced in large amounts, its effect was enormous. Infections that had killed millions of people — from simple cuts that went bad to serious diseases — could suddenly be cured with a short course of treatment. Doctors at the time described it as a miracle. Countless soldiers wounded in the Second World War survived because of it, and average life expectancy rose sharply in the decades that followed. Today, however, doctors face a new problem: bacteria are fighting back. When antibiotics are used too often, or used incorrectly, some bacteria survive and develop resistance, meaning the medicines no longer work against them. Health organisations now urge doctors to prescribe antibiotics only when truly necessary, and urge patients to finish the full course they are given. Fleming himself warned of exactly this danger almost a century ago — proof that listening to scientists matters, even when the news is inconvenient.

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