Whirlwind_in_Occupied_Holland_Shama.pdf (479.57 kB)
Download fileA whirlwind in occupied Holland
journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-13, 11:55 authored by Gilbert Shama, Gerben van der Els● Two separate groups of Dutch microbiologists led clandestine efforts to produce
antibiotics while the country was occupied during World War II.
● In one of these efforts, J.V. Köningsberger and Abraham van Luyk at the Botanical
Laboratory in Utrecht tested antibiotics produced by Penicillium expansum on
animals and humans.
● Although hampered by wartime censorship, this Dutch group benefitted from
information on penicillin from an unusual source—namely, a leaflet that British Royal
Air Force (RAF) fliers dropped over Holland.
● The group in Utrecht laboured under conditions of severe deprivation, but despite
their best efforts their work came to an abrupt end in August 1944 when gas and
electricity supplies collapsed.
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Chemical Engineering
Citation
SHAMA, G. and VAN DER ELS, G., 2008. A whirlwind in occupied Holland. Microbe, 3 (11), pp. 511-515Publisher
© American Society for MicrobiologyVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2008Notes
This article was published in the journal, Microbe [© American Society for Microbiology] and the definitive version is available at: http://www.asm.org/microbe/ No material may be reproduced without the permission of the author. No changes may be made to the material without first obtaining permission from both ASM and the author, and any such changes must be identified in the material when it is published.ISSN
1558-7452;1558-7460Language
- en