Replica apparatus for the extraction and purification of penicillin

Made:
1986 in England
maker:
Norman Heatley
Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction of
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Replica of the apparatus for the continuous extraction and purification of penicillin, by Dr. Norman Heatley, England, 1986. The actual apparatus was first used by Dr. Norman Heatley on the Howard Florey team, in early 1941.

Made by Norman Heatley (1911-2004) himself, a member of the team at Oxford who were working on penicillin in the early 1940s, this is a replica of the apparatus he built for the continuous extraction and purification of the drug. It was specially made for the Science Museum. The original device, made in 1940, passed increasingly pure penicillin between solution in acidified water and an organic solvent.

Heatley was part of the team that managed to produce enough of the antibiotic for the first clinical trials in 1941. It was difficult to reproduce enough of the Penicillium mould, and difficult again to gain samples with few impurities. Heatley’s inventiveness shown both in this device and in his design of a dish to grow the mould at an experimental scale was of great importance to the development of penicillin.

Details

Category:
Biotechnology
Object Number:
1986-1116
Materials:
string, metal, glass, rubber, cork, plastic and wood
Measurements:
overall: 1960 mm x 880 mm x 530 mm, 86 kg
crate: 2135 mm x 1030 mm x 560 mm, 137 kg
type:
laboratory apparatus
credit:
Donated by Dr Norman Heatley