The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge people have gained using that system. Less formally, the word science often describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from it. Get great science articles each month with the. Science Made Simple newsletter.
Phenylalanine has been around as long as life itself, if not longer. It's not something that someone invented one day. It's like oxygen: no one invented it, it's been here as long as anyone can remember, and far longer! J. Heinrich Matthaei and Marshall W. Nirenberg figured out a way to make a bacterium produce long chains of phenylalanine molecules in 1961.
Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and was first used in clinical trials in 1942. Addition of an amino group to the benzylpenicillin molecule resulted in the creation of ampicillin, a drug with a broadened spectrum of activity. Penicillin and ampicillin exert their bactericidal effect by inhibiting microbial cell wall synthesis.