Mold is all around us. In the air and on our food, it can make us sick and gross us out , but not all molds are bad. Some can make delicious food, and others can save lives. One famous mold, discovered by accident by a sloppy scientist, became the first antibiotic medicine: penicillin.
The story of penicillin begins with Alexander Fleming, a young man working a boring job in the shipping industry. One day, his uncle died and left him some money. It was enough to quit his job and enter medical school in London. At medical school, Fleming joined a shooting club and was a talented shot. When he graduated, the captain of the team didn’t want to lose him, so he found him a job as a bacteriologist. It was this chain of events that led Fleming to his greatest discovery.
Fleming studied a particular kind of bacteria that was harmful to humans. One day, before taking a vacation, he carelessly forgot to clean up his Petri dishes full of bacteria. When he returned, they were covered in mold. No surprise there, but what was surprising was the mold had killed the harmful bacteria.
Fleming knew he was on to something, but he wasn’t a chemist and didn’t have the skills to produce enough mold for further research. He eventually published his research, which was then discovered by the chemist Howard Florey. Florey and his employee, Ernst Chain, did have the skills to produce hundreds of liters of this mold. They first tested the penicillin on 50 mice, which they infected with deadly bacteria. Half of the mice were given penicillin, and half were left to die. Twenty-four of the twenty-five mice given penicillin survived. They knew they had struck gold. Interestingly they narrowly avoided going down a dead end. If Florey and Chain had chosen guinea pigs instead of mice, they would have seen no result. While penicillin is a miracle cure for mice, humans, and many other animals, it has no effect on guinea pigs.
In 1945, Fleming, Florey, and Chain won the Nobel Prize for penicillin. It was a turning point in human history. Doctors now had a way to cure infectious diseases, and the discovery of many other life saving antibiotics would follow. It is estimated that penicillin has saved a hundred million lives over the years. But if it weren’t for a generous uncle, a talent for shooting, a sloppy day at the office, and the random choice of mice over guinea pigs, it never would have happened.
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#1 Mold podcast by Surprisingly Awesome y
Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin
Mold is all around us. It is in the air and on our food. It can make us sick and gross us out. But not all molds are bad. Some can make delicious food. And others can save lives. One famous mold was discovered by accident by a messy scientist. It became the first antibiotic medicine: penicillin.
Alexander Fleming was a young man working a boring job. One day, his uncle died and left him some money. It was enough to quit his job and enter medical school in London. At school, Fleming joined a shooting club. He was a talented shot. When he graduated, the captain of the team didn’t want to lose him. He found him a job as a scientist. It was this chain of events that led to his greatest discovery.
Fleming studied a kind of bacteria that was harmful to humans. One day, before taking a vacation, he forgot to clean up his Petri dishes full of bacteria. When he returned, they were covered in mold. To his surprise, the mold had killed the bacteria.
Fleming knew he was on to something, but he didn’t know how to make enough mold for further research. He published his research, which was then discovered by the chemist Howard Florey. Florey and Ernst Chain, did know how to make hundreds of liters of this mold. They first tested the penicillin on 50 mice, which they infected with deadly bacteria. Half of the mice were given penicillin. Half were left to die. Twenty-four of the twenty-five mice given penicillin lived. They knew they had struck gold.
They almost went down a dead end. If they had chosen guinea pigs instead of mice, they would have seen no result. While penicillin works for mice, humans, and many other animals, it has no effect on guinea pigs.
In 1945, Fleming, Florey, and Chain won the Nobel Prize for penicillin. It was a turning point in human history. Penicillin has saved a hundred million lives over the years. But if it weren’t for a generous uncle, a talent for shooting, a messy scientist, and the choice of mice over guinea pigs, it never would have happened.
Read More:
#1 Mold podcast by Surprisingly Awesome y
Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin
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