Quiz on Penicillin

Penicillin is used to fight which kind of germs?

• Viruses
• Bacteria ✓ (Correct answer)
• Fungi
• Parasites

Source: Antibiotics like penicillin only kill bacteria — they do nothing against viruses like the cold or flu.

Penicillin belongs to which class of medicines?

• Antibiotics ✓ (Correct answer)
• Vaccines
• Painkillers
• Antihistamines

Source: Penicillin was the world's first widely used antibiotic, launching the entire class of drugs.

Who is credited with discovering penicillin in 1928?

• Louis Pasteur
• Robert Koch
• Alexander Fleming ✓ (Correct answer)
• Joseph Lister

Source: Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming spotted the mold by chance after returning from a holiday.

During which global event did penicillin save many soldiers' lives?

• World War I
• World War II ✓ (Correct answer)
• Crimean War
• Vietnam War

Source: Mass-produced penicillin saved countless Allied soldiers from infected wounds during World War II.

What is the most famous adverse reaction some people have to penicillin?

• Drowsiness
• Nausea
• Allergic reaction ✓ (Correct answer)
• Dizziness

Source: Roughly 1 in 10 people report a penicillin allergy, though true severe allergies are far rarer.

How did Fleming stumble upon penicillin?

• A wound that healed fast
• Spoiled milk sample
• Mold on a petri dish ✓ (Correct answer)
• Bread left to rot

Source: A stray mold spore drifted onto Fleming's petri dish and killed the bacteria around it.

Penicillin earned its discoverers which major honor in 1945?

• Pulitzer Prize
• Nobel Prize ✓ (Correct answer)
• Fields Medal
• Turing Award

Source: Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine for penicillin.

Penicillin was originally produced by what type of organism?

• Bacteria
• Algae
• Yeast
• Mold ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Penicillin oozed from a common mold, making it one of the first medicines harvested from a fungus.

Which of these illnesses can penicillin-type antibiotics actually treat?

• Common cold
• Flu
• Strep throat ✓ (Correct answer)
• COVID-19

Source: Strep throat is bacterial; colds, flu and COVID are viral, so antibiotics can't touch them.

Penicillin kills bacteria by attacking which part of them?

• Cell wall ✓ (Correct answer)
• Nucleus
• DNA
• Mitochondria

Source: Penicillin bursts bacteria by sabotaging the cell wall they need to survive — human cells have none.

Penicillin fails against MRSA because the bacteria developed what?

• Resistance ✓ (Correct answer)
• A thicker shell
• Faster reproduction
• Natural immunity

Source: MRSA evolved resistance, shrugging off the very penicillin-family drugs that once killed it.

Before it had a real name, Fleming first called his discovery what?

• Green gold
• Wonder serum
• Blue cure
• Mould juice ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Fleming modestly called his bacteria-killing extract 'mould juice' before it had a real name.

In which city's hospital did Fleming make his discovery?

• Oxford
• Paris
• London ✓ (Correct answer)
• Edinburgh

Source: Fleming made his accidental discovery at St Mary's Hospital in London in 1928.

Who led the Oxford team that turned penicillin into a usable drug?

• Selman Waksman
• Paul Ehrlich
• Howard Florey ✓ (Correct answer)
• Gerhard Domagk

Source: Australian Howard Florey's Oxford team turned Fleming's curiosity into a mass-producible drug.

Which serious infection did penicillin become a breakthrough cure for in the 1940s?

• Tuberculosis
• Syphilis ✓ (Correct answer)
• Malaria
• Polio

Source: Penicillin transformed syphilis from a feared killer into a curable infection almost overnight.

Penicillin belongs to which chemical family defined by a four-membered ring?

• Sulfonamides
• Beta-lactams ✓ (Correct answer)
• Quinolones
• Macrolides

Source: Penicillin's four-membered beta-lactam ring is the chemical warhead that cracks bacteria open.

A high-yield penicillin strain was famously found on what moldy food?

• Cantaloupe ✓ (Correct answer)
• Orange
• Bread loaf
• Cheese wheel

Source: A moldy cantaloupe from an Illinois market yielded the super-strain used for wartime production.

The first patient treated with penicillin in 1941 sadly died because what happened?

• He was allergic
• The supply ran out ✓ (Correct answer)
• The wrong dose was given
• The infection spread

Source: Police officer Albert Alexander rallied on penicillin, then died when the tiny supply ran out.

The mold's Latin name reflects that its spore clusters resemble what object?

• A pencil
• A penny
• A feather
• A paintbrush ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: 'Penicillium' is Latin for 'little paintbrush,' matching the mold's brush-like spore clusters.

Which cheap broth ingredient dramatically boosted penicillin production yields?

• Beef extract
• Sugar syrup
• Corn steep liquor ✓ (Correct answer)
• Sea salt

Source: Cheap corn steep liquor, a corn-milling byproduct, multiplied penicillin yields enormously.