While some argue that the history of Penicillin dates back as far as 1875, the discovery of the drug is attributed to Scottish scientist and Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming in 1928. He proved that it was possible to grow Penicillium notatum in the appropriate substrate to create a substance with antibiotic properties. This observation then led to the modern era of antibiotic discovery. Australian Nobel laureate Howard Walter Florey, German Nobel laureate Ernst Chain and English biochemist Norman Heatley were the first to develop penicillin for use as a medicine.
Alexander Fleming recounted his discovery of penicillin as the morning of Friday, September 28, 1928. The discovery was an accident in his basement laboratory in London’s St. Mary’s Hospital. Fleming noticed that a petri dish that contained Staphylococcus had been left open and was now contaminated by a blue-green mould and had formed a visible growth. Around this growth there was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth and Fleming concluded that the mould was releasing a substance that was repressing the growth and decomposing the bacteria. From this he grew a pure culture and discovered that it was a Penicillium mould. Fleming referred the matter to American specialist Charles Thom and the term ‘penicillin’ came to describe the filtrate of a broth culture of the Penicillium mould. Penicillin was found to be most effective against Gram positive bacteria but ineffective against Gram negative organism. Using this information, Fleming argued that penicillin would be a useful disinfectant as it is highly potent but not very toxic. Further experiments made Fleming realised that penicillin could not last long enough in the body to kill pathogenic bacteria. He stopped studying it after 1931 but then restarted his clinical trials in 1934 and continued to try to get someone to purify it until 1940.
Alexander Fleming recounted his discovery of penicillin as the morning of Friday, September 28, 1928. The discovery was an accident in his basement laboratory in London’s St. Mary’s Hospital. Fleming noticed that a petri dish that contained Staphylococcus had been left open and was now contaminated by a blue-green mould and had formed a visible growth. Around this growth there was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth and Fleming concluded that the mould was releasing a substance that was repressing the growth and decomposing the bacteria. From this he grew a pure culture and discovered that it was a Penicillium mould. Fleming referred the matter to American specialist Charles Thom and the term ‘penicillin’ came to describe the filtrate of a broth culture of the Penicillium mould. Penicillin was found to be most effective against Gram positive bacteria but ineffective against Gram negative organism. Using this information, Fleming argued that penicillin would be a useful disinfectant as it is highly potent but not very toxic. Further experiments made Fleming realised that penicillin could not last long enough in the body to kill pathogenic bacteria. He stopped studying it after 1931 but then restarted his clinical trials in 1934 and continued to try to get someone to purify it until 1940.
