Page 176 - The Microworld Miracle

Just as moulds feed on organic wastes around them, they can
also feed on other microorganisms. Entomophtorales, a white mould,
feeds on amoeba living in moist soil. When it senses an amoeba
moving nearby, it seizes it and absorbs its cellular contents, leaving
only the membrane behind. 97

However, not all moulds are harmful. They can serve mankind
in a wide number of ways, from food production to drug manufac-
ture. Moulds are employed in the manufacture of organic acids,
various antibiotics such as penicillin, and some drugs that suppress
the immune system, as well as of various antibiotics such as peni-

cillin. The uses of moulds in this area are of very great importance
Moulds Are Used in the Manufacture of Certain Drugs
The effects of microorganisms on life can assume various

forms. A particle of mould we may see on a piece of bread from
time to time may actually be exceedingly important and affect a
large part of our lives. The use of moulds in medicine is very impor-
tant in terms of seeing that effect. Certain serious diseases, even fa-
tal ones, have been totally eliminated with drugs developed with

the help of these microorganisms.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming placed various species of bacteria
in various experimental dishes and observed that moulds had
THE MICROWORLD MIRACLE trace of the bacterium that he'd expected to grow. He discovered
formed in one of the dishes containing the bacterium
Staphylococcus. in the layer in which the mould formed, he saw no

that the mould—a species of fungus known as Penicillium nota-

tum—had secreted a substance poisonous to the bacterium and
eliminated it. The drug penicillin was produced by purifying this

174 micro-organism's secretions.