-Chemistry+and+Medicines

[[image:http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/robertsonr/xem/LIN%20cream%20cartoon.gif caption="http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/robertsonr/xem/LIN%20cream%20cartoon.gif"]]Chemistry and Medicines
Chemistry is very important for medicinal studies. Without chemistry we wouldn't have key medical materials and chemicals needed to perform operations or to treat infections and diseases. Doctors, for example, use chemistry to determine what chemical compounds have affects on the body, and what amount of those chemicals will help the body heal, or make it ill. A part of chemistry that applies to medicine is biochemistry and biotechnology. Biochemistry is chemistry dealing with biological chemical reactions on the body, and biotechnology is the form of science that is used in the production of biological products and processes.

A key example of how chemistry is useful for medicinal purposes is penicillin. In 1928 a Scottish Scientist, named Alexander Fleming was studying a bacteria and observed that the bacteria would not grow if a certain type of mold was also present. Other scientists came to this conclusion but Fleming was the one who thought that there was something chemically happening between the mold and bacteria to prevent the bacteria from growing. Fleming thought that the mold released a chemical that stopped the bacteria's growth. This chemical turned out to be penicillin. After further studying the chemical with other scientists Fleming discovered that Penicillin can kill a large variety of bacteria. Without the chemical reaction provided by penicillin the medicinal world would not be able to perform many of the surgeries and procedures that it does today, especially because penicillin is used in many procedures to stop patients from contracting bacteria and infections while they are getting another procedure done.

media type="youtube" key="wUNQH8KxCVs?rel=0" height="480" width="853"