Sir Flemings Accidental Discovery of Penicillin Abstract: Alexander Fleming was a bacteriologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1945 for discovering Penicillin. He researched antibiotics to treat fatal diseases such as meningitis and pneumonia. Penicillin was the worlds first true antibiotic. Introduction: Sir Alexander Fleming was born in rural part of Scotland on August 6th 1881. He attended St Marys Hospital Medical School where he found himself specializing as a surgeon therefore he switched to the field of bacteriology in which he got a MBBS degree in 1908 (PBS). After graduation Fleming remained at St Marys as a professor of Bacteriology until 1914 till WW1 broke out. During WW1 he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps in France where he encountered many infections (PBS). When he returned from WW1 he started searching for effective antiseptics (American Chemical Society). In 1921 he discovered Lysozyme, an important bacteriolytic substance (Nobel Prize Foundation). The lysozyme was an enzyme occurring in body fluids, such as tears. It had a natural antibacterial effect, but not against the strongest infectious agents (PBS). Therefore he found, that it was not functional in killing disease causing bacteria. In 1928 when Fleming returned from his holiday he was examining his petri dishes and he accidently saw one of them had an unusual mold. It was as if the mold had secreted something inhibiting bacterial growth. It was later identified as a rare strain of Penicillium notatum (American Chemical Society). Antibiotics are compounds produced by bacteria and fungi which are capable of killing, or inhibiting, competing microbial species (American
Chemical Society). They had known of the phenomenon of antibiotic for
decade, but it was in 1928 Penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was discovered by Fleming. Fleming found the mold was capable of killing bacteria such as streptococcus, meningococcus and the diphtheria bacillus (American Chemical Society). But when he tried to isolate the pure penicillin from the mold it proved to be unstable. He published his findings in the hope that other pathologist and biochemists would be ably to purify penicillin. In 1943 he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society and knighted in 1944. In 1945 he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey (Nobel Prize Foundation). In 1939 Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey turned penicillin from a laboratory curiosity into a life-saving drug at Oxford University (American Chemical Society). Discussion: The discovery of Penicillin has been a crucial finding because it allowed diseases, such as meningitis, pneumonia, rheumatic fever, syphilis, and gonorrhea, which seemed fatal to be treated (American Chemical Society). Its the most widely used antibiotic. It helped decrease the number of amputations during WWII. Its discovery has since led Pharmaceutical companies to research more natural products, which has then led to more antibiotics. Conclusion: Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1945 with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey for his discovery of Penicillin. Penicillin was the first true antibiotic. It was able to treat diseases previously believed to be fatal. He also paved the way for future antibiotics. Without penicillin our world would be full of fatal diseases. References:
The Nobel Foundation (1945) Alexander Fleming Biographical. Nobel
Lecture, Medicine and Physiology 1942-1962 American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry. (1999) The discovery and development of penicillin 1928-1945 Public Broadcasting Service (1998) A Science Odyssey, People and Discoveries: Alexander Fleming 1881 1955