Alexander Fleming

From ArticleWorld

The Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), is known as the man who discovered the penicillin. In 1945, he was presented with the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his valuable discovery.

Education and discovery

Alexander Fleming was born at Lochfield in Ayrshire, Scotland. He went to Louden Moor School and Kilmarnock Academy before moving to London, where he attended St. Mary's Medical School. He was qualified with distinction in 1906 and started on his researches at St. Mary's. Later, during the WWI, he served as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. He returned to St. Mary's in 1918.

Fleming was interested in his medical career with the natural bacterial action of the blood. In 1921, he discovered Lysozyme, an important natural enzyme that has antibacterial effect. Later in 1928, while working as a research assistant on the influenza virus, he accidentally noticed that mould had developed on some plates, and that the mold actually killed the bacteria around it. Through experiments, he found that the mould prevented growth of the staphylococci germ. The active substance was named penicillin which was isolated from the fungus "Penicillium." Fleming then tested the penicillin on animals, and also used it to cure an eye infection of one of his colleagues.

However, his discovery raised little interests in the medical society. Refining and growing mold was not an easy process and it suited chemists more. He didn't pursue it after that and his work was later taken over by two scientists Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Floery, to develop penicillin to be used effectively. As a result of their researches, penicillin was used as a drug and distributed during WWII, saving millions of lives.

Accolades

In recognition of his achievements, Fleming was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1943 and was knighted in 1944. Later in 1945, he shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 together with Chain and Florey. The discovery of penicillin is considered one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. Though it is impossible to know how many lives have been saved by the discovery of penicillin, some estimates went as high as almost 200 million lives.

Death

Alexander Fleming died in 1955 at the age of 73 of a heart attack. He was buried in London as a national hero. His discovery had affected the world of modern medicines by introducing useful antibiotics.