Alexander fleming brief biography of joe

It was noticed that around a large colony of a contaminating mould the staphylococcus colonies became transparent and were obviously undergoing lysis. Subcultures of this mould were made and experiments conducted with a view to ascertaining something of the properties of the bacteriolytic substance which had evidently been formed in the mould culture and which had diffused into the surrounding medium.

It was found that broth in which the mould had been grown at room temperature for one or two weeks had acquired marked inhibitory, bacteriocidal and bacteriolytic properties to many of the more common pathogenic bacteria. Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. Including mathematicians, biologists, physicists and chemists. Hart, from his book most influential people in the world.

For his work, he was jointly awarded a Nobel prize in Fleming noted that a ring had formed around the fungus in which staphylococci did not grow. Curious, he began culturing the fungus, which he identified as Penicillium notatum , and called the antibacterial substance it produced "penicillin. After months of observation, Fleming discovered that penicillin continued to inhibit the growth of bacteria even when diluted up to times.

Moreover, unlike the antiseptics in use at the time, penicillin appeared to be nontoxic to animals, a property that led him to believe it might be used as a topical treatment to fight infection in humans. He reported these findings in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology in , but the paper was largely ignored. Although he continued to cultivate Penicillium and provided samples to other laboratories, Fleming primarily used penicillin in the lab as a filtrate to isolate penicillin-insensitive from penicillin-sensitive bacteria in mixed cultures and did not pursue its use as a therapeutic.

While surveying the literature on naturally produced antibacterial substances in , Chain ran across Fleming's paper, which, according to him, "had been forgotten completely in the vast mass of scientific literature. Chain, a biochemist, succeeded in purifying penicillin in early , and he and Florey reported its therapeutic value on mice later that year and on human volunteers in early That summer, Florey promoted the drug in the United States, and, by early , American pharmaceutical companies were mass producing penicillin for distribution to Allied soldiers during the Second World War.

By war's end, the supply was large enough to use the drug in the treatment of civilians. Together, Fleming, Chain, and Florey had discovered and developed the first antibiotic, providing physicians with what was colloquially called the "wonder drug" in the s and s for its ability to effectively treat previously fatal bacterial infections.

Prior to his discovery of penicillin, Fleming had already enjoyed a successful career as an immunologist. Mary's after the war, in , Fleming took on a new position: assistant director of St. Mary's Inoculation Department. He would become a professor of bacteriology at the University of London in , and an emeritus professor of bacteriology in In November , while nursing a cold, Fleming discovered lysozyme, a mildly antiseptic enzyme present in body fluids, when a drop of mucus dripped from his nose onto a culture of bacteria.

Thinking that his mucus might have some kind of effect on bacterial growth, he mixed it with the culture. A few weeks later, he observed that the bacteria had been dissolved. This marked Fleming's first great discovery, as well as a significant contribution to human immune system research. As it turned out, however, lysozyme had no effect on the most destructive bacteria.

In September , Fleming returned to his laboratory after a month away with his family, and noticed that a culture of Staphylococcus aureus he had left out had become contaminated with a mold later identified as Penicillium notatum. He also discovered that the colonies of staphylococci surrounding this mold had been destroyed. He later said of the incident, "When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, , I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer.

But I suppose that was exactly what I did. Thinking he had found an enzyme more powerful than lysozyme, Fleming decided to investigate further. What he found out, though, was that it was not an enzyme at all, but an antibiotic -- one of the first antibiotics to be discovered.

Alexander fleming brief biography of joe

He went to Kilmarnock Academy. However, Alexander Fleming moved to London. When he qualified Alexander Fleming became an assistant bacteriologist. Alexander Fleming became a lecturer in Bacteriology. Penicillin n During the s Alexander Fleming carried out numerous experiments.