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On This Day: Penicillin Was Discovered in 1928
September 28, 2020 at 07:42 PM EDT
By WeatherBug's Chris Sayles
One of the world’s greatest medicinal discoveries was made on this day nearly a century ago. Let us look back on how penicillin came to be and who was involved in its discovery.
The first known version of penicillin was first created by Sir Alexander Fleming of Darvel in Scotland on September 28, 1928. In fact, Dr. Fleming’s was knighted and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine or Physiology which he shared with his counterparts Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain in 1945.
However, Fleming’s discovery came at a time when the world was engaged with World War I. Thus, having been burdened by seeing many war patients mistreated with antiseptics, he decided to figure out how to heal patients without worsening their symptoms.
After studying bacteria strains, Fleming was able to isolate bacteria and eradicate it thanks to a solution he had mixed in. Interestingly enough, Fleming used his own cold virus as a test to see if he can isolate bacteria. After two weeks of being left alone, he discovered that the dish that homed his bacteria had grown a significant amount of mold. However, the portion of the dish with his mucus had been cleared of mold growth, and Fleming helmed the substance, prohibiting the growth as lysozyme. Though profound, this discovery was only the beginning of a ground-breaking discovery on the horizon.
Fleming would attempt to replicate the results of his previous accident in hopes of finding a cure for infections. He would fill a dish with the bacteria known as staphylococcal and placed it in an open area for two weeks. The bacteria would produce mold growth, but Fleming noticed that it would begin to die-off. The gel-like substance surrounding the mold, formed from the bacteria, held the secret to this discovery.
The drug, called penicillin, would be distributed across the world with Cecil Paine, a pathologist in Sheffield, England, who was the first to use penicillin on a patient. The drug was not successful until it was found to cure neonatal conjunctivitis on November 25, 1930.
Penicillin would go on to treat many infectious diseases such as scarlet fever and pneumonia, and was fast tracked to be mass-produced during World War II in the 1940s. Today, penicillin is still used to treat medical infections. However, many bacterial infections have built up a resistance to the drug. New antibiotics have been developed to fight them now.
Sources: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Story Image: Professor Alexander Fleming at work in his laboratory at St Mary's Hospital, London. Fourteen years after his discovery of penicillin, he is still experimenting to investigate the effect of the drug on bacteria. (Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/Wikimedia Commons)
The first known version of penicillin was first created by Sir Alexander Fleming of Darvel in Scotland on September 28, 1928. In fact, Dr. Fleming’s was knighted and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine or Physiology which he shared with his counterparts Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain in 1945.
However, Fleming’s discovery came at a time when the world was engaged with World War I. Thus, having been burdened by seeing many war patients mistreated with antiseptics, he decided to figure out how to heal patients without worsening their symptoms.
After studying bacteria strains, Fleming was able to isolate bacteria and eradicate it thanks to a solution he had mixed in. Interestingly enough, Fleming used his own cold virus as a test to see if he can isolate bacteria. After two weeks of being left alone, he discovered that the dish that homed his bacteria had grown a significant amount of mold. However, the portion of the dish with his mucus had been cleared of mold growth, and Fleming helmed the substance, prohibiting the growth as lysozyme. Though profound, this discovery was only the beginning of a ground-breaking discovery on the horizon.
Fleming would attempt to replicate the results of his previous accident in hopes of finding a cure for infections. He would fill a dish with the bacteria known as staphylococcal and placed it in an open area for two weeks. The bacteria would produce mold growth, but Fleming noticed that it would begin to die-off. The gel-like substance surrounding the mold, formed from the bacteria, held the secret to this discovery.
The drug, called penicillin, would be distributed across the world with Cecil Paine, a pathologist in Sheffield, England, who was the first to use penicillin on a patient. The drug was not successful until it was found to cure neonatal conjunctivitis on November 25, 1930.
Penicillin would go on to treat many infectious diseases such as scarlet fever and pneumonia, and was fast tracked to be mass-produced during World War II in the 1940s. Today, penicillin is still used to treat medical infections. However, many bacterial infections have built up a resistance to the drug. New antibiotics have been developed to fight them now.
Sources: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Story Image: Professor Alexander Fleming at work in his laboratory at St Mary's Hospital, London. Fourteen years after his discovery of penicillin, he is still experimenting to investigate the effect of the drug on bacteria. (Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/Wikimedia Commons)