How Was Penicillin Discovered and Developed?
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Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from mold that contaminated a petri dish of Staphylococcus bacteria.
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Researchers at Oxford University experimented with the new mold that Alexander Fleming had discovered.
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Penicillin was actually discovered by mistake.
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Researchers first showed that penicillin is effective in mice.
Article Details
- Written By: Bronwyn Harris
- Edited By: Sara Z. Potter
- Last Modified Date: 26 October 2017
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2003-2017 Conjecture Corporation
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Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist in London, discovered penicillin by mistake when he was trying to study Staphylococcus
bacteria in 1928. He was running experiments with the bacteria in his
laboratory at London's St. Mary's Hospital, and set a laboratory dish
containing the bacteria near an open window. Upon returning to the
experiment, he found that some mold blown in through the open window
onto the dish, contaminating the bacteria.
Instead of throwing away his spoiled experiment, Fleming looked closely at it under his microscope. Surprisingly, he saw not only the mold growing on the bacteria, but a clear zone around the mold. The Penicillium mold, the precursor to penicillin, was dissolving the deadly Staphylococcus bacteria.
Fleming was originally optimistic that penicillin would be useful as an antibacterial agent, as it was safe for the human body, yet potent. Later, in 1931, he changed his mind and decided that it would not last in humans for the duration needed to kill harmful bacteria, and stopped studying it. In 1934, he began another few years of clinical trials and tried to find someone else to purify it.
Researchers at Oxford University in England, including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley, experimented with Fleming's discovery. They proved that penicillin would be both harmless and effective in mice, but did not yet have the volume needed to treat people. Orvan Hess and John Bumstead were the first people to use it to successfully treat a patient.
Instead of throwing away his spoiled experiment, Fleming looked closely at it under his microscope. Surprisingly, he saw not only the mold growing on the bacteria, but a clear zone around the mold. The Penicillium mold, the precursor to penicillin, was dissolving the deadly Staphylococcus bacteria.
Fleming was originally optimistic that penicillin would be useful as an antibacterial agent, as it was safe for the human body, yet potent. Later, in 1931, he changed his mind and decided that it would not last in humans for the duration needed to kill harmful bacteria, and stopped studying it. In 1934, he began another few years of clinical trials and tried to find someone else to purify it.
Researchers at Oxford University in England, including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley, experimented with Fleming's discovery. They proved that penicillin would be both harmless and effective in mice, but did not yet have the volume needed to treat people. Orvan Hess and John Bumstead were the first people to use it to successfully treat a patient.
Penicillin saved the lives of many soldiers in World War
II, but the supply was extremely limited, and the drug was rapidly
excreted from the body, so the patients had to be dosed frequently. It
was common practice at this point to save the urine from patients undergoing treatment so that the penicillin could be isolated and reused. Another agent, probenecid, was eventually found to prolong the duration of penicillin in the human body.
Fleming, Florey, and Chain were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1945 for the discovery and development of penicillin. Florey was openly worried about the possibility of a population explosion resulting from health care improvements and said that his work with the antibiotic was more of an interesting scientific problem than a way to help people. He did admit that the fact that it could help people was a good thing, but not why he was originally interested.
Andrew J. Moyer later discovered how to make large quantities of penicillin, patenting the process and advancing the fight against infectious diseases. In 1987, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his process of creating penicillin in high quantity.
Fleming, Florey, and Chain were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1945 for the discovery and development of penicillin. Florey was openly worried about the possibility of a population explosion resulting from health care improvements and said that his work with the antibiotic was more of an interesting scientific problem than a way to help people. He did admit that the fact that it could help people was a good thing, but not why he was originally interested.
Andrew J. Moyer later discovered how to make large quantities of penicillin, patenting the process and advancing the fight against infectious diseases. In 1987, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his process of creating penicillin in high quantity.
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Discuss this Article
| anon319780 Post 32 |
'First treatment' claims for
Penicillin are widely documented? In the UK, the very first treatment
was given to Police Constable Albert Alexander in 1941. Sadly, the
supply run out and he succumbed to his infection!
In the US, the official first patient who was saved by penicillin administered in hospital settings was Anne Miller, 90, cured in March 1942. She had been hospitalized for a month, often delirious with her temperature spiking to nearly 107, while doctors tried everything available, including sulfa drugs, blood transfusions and surgery. All failed. Within 24 hours of treatment, the patient responded and made a complete recovery. She eventually died aged 90. |
| anon288357 Post 29 |
So this experiment led to the
development of what major medical advancement? Mold, right? Or am I
mistaken?
|
| anon253306 Post 24 |
Why are you arguing about whose relative got the first dose -- and capitalize America, please.
|
| Related Topics | |
| anon242284 Post 21 |
Sir Alex was wise.
|
| anon163689 Post 18 |
Who was the first person to take penicillin?
|
| anon155814 Post 17 |
Completely agree with anon1008,
fleming did not desire the credit. He gave up on the idea fast,
believing that it could not work in humans.
When Heatley, Chain, and Florey picked it up, they turned a part of Oxford university into a penicillin production plant. It took them four years of staying up all night and working hard to get an extract. They carried on even when they were suffering (Florey's wife died and his children got evacuated to the usa, chains sister and mum got killed in concentration camp) Heatley designed a method of extracting it with old bookcases and telephones due to war shortages.Fleming even went to the lab and observed, helping in no way and leaving |
| Related Topics | |
| anon119521 Post 15 |
Does anyone know how he trialed this? Thanks.
|
| anon101038 Post 14 |
my girlfriend was dying and needed
fast and effective treatment, and her family doctor gave her some
penicillin, but she still died. it didn't work! now i lost my baby. i
miss you Jill! i will never forget you!
|
| anon93177 Post 13 |
Actually, my Dad was the first person
in the U.S. who received penicillin as a treatment. He was in the Navy
and taken to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. His treatment was on
November 6, 1943. His parents were told that it saved his life.
|
| Related Topics | |
| anon70285 Post 12 |
Duchesne originally discovered the
antibiotic properties of Penicillium, but failed to report a connection
between the fungus and a substance that had antibacterial properties,
and Penicillium was forgotten in the scientific community until
Fleming's rediscovery.
|
| anon65766 Post 11 |
How did it change our treatment of infection?
|
| anon61501 Post 10 |
My great grandfather was the first
person to have penicillin. he had peritonitis which is an inflammation
of the peritoneum,so he was given the first ever dose of penicillin.
|
| Related Topics | |
| anon37621 Post 8 |
Can anyone tell me how the horse
urine myth got introduced to the penicillin? As I was growing up the
story was the horse unire was collected and sold for production of
penicillin. There are a few articles referring to this on line.
I know that pregnant mare urine was collected for estrogen. Thank you for your input |
| Dayton Post 5 |
Actually, that's right. Even though
Fleming is largely credited with the discovery, Duchesne seems to have
discovered the antibiotic effects of penicillin about 30 years earlier,
but couldn't get any academic or medical attention to his work.
|
| anon3962 Post 4 |
Alexander Fleming did not discover
penicillin he re-discovered because the first person was Ernest
Dechesne.
|
| Related Topics | |
| anon1022 Post 3 |
Very interesting. I did not know of
Dr.Florey´s concern about the demographic explosion as a consecuence of
the use of penicilin. Thanks
|
| anon1014 Post 2 |
Why wasn't Norman Heatley included in the Nobel Prize award?
|
| anon1008 Post 1 |
Fleming did nothing about developing Penicillin following his first serendipitous observation.
After Florey, Chain and Heatley had done the real work of developing it, Fleming turned up at Oxford to take the credit. |
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