The Discovery of Penicillin

I’m one of the many people who are allergic to the drug penicillin. I wasn’t always allergic. Before it developed penicillin and related drugs in the penicillin group of drugs knocked out a lot of the colds and chest infections I frequently had.

It was after I was working in the production area of these drugs for several years I developed a sensitivity to it. When I took an allergic reaction, my doctor informed me I had experienced the most severe that could be had without dying and the next one would kill me.

So, why on earth would I write about it now? Notwithstanding it’s potential to off me, penicillin has saved millions around the world and it was in September 1928 that it was discovered by Alexander Fleming.

Sir Alexander Fleming was born August 6, 1881 near Ayrshire, Scotland. His father was a farmer and Alexander was the third child. His upbringing in rural Scotland contributed to his capacity for observations and appreciation of the natural world at an early age.

He attended St. Mary’s Medical School, London University where her became a bacteriologist working in the field of vaccine therapy undr Sir Almroth Wright a pioneer in the field. Fleming soon showed a talent for technical ingenuity and original observation.

Early in his research he became interested in natural bacterial action in the blood and in antiseptics. He established a successful private practice I 1909 to 1914. He was one of the first doctors in Britain to administer the drug Salvarian which had been discovered by the German scientist Paul Ehrlich to treat syphilis.

He continued his work during his military career while serving as a Captain in the Army Medical Corp during WW1. He worked as a bacteriologist studying wound infection in a military hospital in France. He was able to demonstrate the use of strong antiseptics on wounds did more harm than good ad cleaning wounds with a mild saline solution was a safer alternative.

He returned to St. Mary’s after demobilization in 1918 and set to work developing an antibacterial that would not be toxic to animal tissue.

He had a breakthrough in September 1928 when he was working on a flu virus. He noticed mould had formed on a staphylococcus culture plate by accident. He also notd a bacteria free ring around the culture. This observation triggered him to further explore the mould and found that even when diluted 800 times the mould prevented the growth of the staph culture.

He named this new substance penicillin His discovery set off the field of antibiotics and led to even further research and development. Fleming continued to research and work on developing penicillin in the years leading up to WW2. He was unable to stabilize and purify it but knew the clinical potential was there.

During the war a team led by Howard Florey at the University of Oxford was bring penicillin into clinical use helping to save hundreds, if not thousands of military casualities.

FLeming was knighted in 1944. In 1945, Florey and his coworker Ernst Chain along with Alexander Fleming shared the Noble Prize.

The chance nature of Fleming’s discovery was picked up by the press and amplified. He was also more willing to talk to the press. From then until his death in April, 1955 Fleming received a lot of attention around the world for his discovery becoming something of an ambassador for medicine and science.

NOTE: Header image from Wikipedia; original image from Imperial War Museum and now in the public domain.

Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s

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