Science history: Alexander Fleming wakes up to funny mold in his petri dish, and accidentally discovers the first antibiotic — Sept. 28, 1928
Rapid facts
Milestone: Discovery of penicillin
Date: September 28, 1928
Or: St Mary Hospital, London
WHOs: Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming
On September 28, 1928, Alexander Fleming woke up to verify his experiences investigating bacterial growth – and accidentally discovered the first antibiotic in the world.
The discovery of penicillin occurred when Fleming returned from a two -week break. He looked at his plates Staphylococcus aureus which had been cultivated from an infected injury. On one of the plates, Fleming noticed a parcel of green mold crossing the golden yellow bacterial colonies, according to a story of his assistant, VD Allison. Near the green patch, the bacteria were translucent, colorless and dead. The substance that killed bacteria would form the base of the first antibiotic, although the The term was not invented until 1941.
“When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly did not plan to revolutionize all the drugs by discovering the first antibiotic in the world, or killer of bacteria,” said Fleming later. “But I guess was exactly what I did.”
Fleming determined that the “mold juice” came from a fungal species which he finally identified as Penicillium. When he described the discovery to his colleagues doctors at a meeting the following year, he met an almost total disinterest. The isolation of the elusive “juic of mold” was also difficult, so the discovery in Langui for a decade, Allison wrote in personal memories.
Then, in 1939, scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain were interested in the substance. They created a research team and, with scientists such as Margaret Jennings, Edward Abraham and Norman Heatley, managed to isolate penicillin of the mold, test it and use the yellow and powder substance to cure a handful of patients. However, the compound was still relatively impure.
In 1942, Fleming treated a young patient who was seriously ill with meningitis. He found that the powder had killed the patient’s bacterial infection, and he called Florey and the chain for part of their hiding place, even if it was not purified. After Fleming injected him into the boy’s spinal cord, the patient recovered.
After this miraculous recovery, Fleming was convinced that penicillin should be produced en masse. He presented it to the government, and soon there was a joint effort between the United States and the United Kingdom to massage the substance en masse. In 1945, the first antibiotic was widely available.
Fleming, Florey and Chain would win the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine For their work on the discovery, isolation and production of penicillin. In 1964, Dorothy Hodgkin would win the Nobel Prize in chemistry To elucidate its crystalline structure, which helped chemists to design subsequent antibiotics.
It is estimated that since its discovery, penicillin has saved 500 million lives And, with its derivatives, is always a pillar in the treatment of countless diseases, including ear infections, Strunge your throatand urinary tract infections.
Penicillin has also led to the development of Hundreds of different antibiotics. But generalized use and improper use of these wonderful drugs have meant that many bacterial strains have Advanced resistance against common antibioticsincluding penicillin. In the arms race against the superbassors, scientists now find new ways to fight bacteria, of Exploit the power of viruses to attack bacteria To use the gene editing tool Crispr To design new drugs.
