22. Alexander Fleming and antibiotics
Of his discovery of the world’s first antibiotic, benzylpenicillin (penicillin G), Alexander Fleming wrote, “One sometimes finds what one is not looking for”. Fleming discovered penicillin through fortuitous circumstances while researching staphylococci. The ability of some forms of mold to combat infections had been known by the ancient Egyptians and in pre-Columbian America, but Fleming was the first to discover why. His study and testing of penicillin led to its identification as effective against the causes of scarlet fever, diphtheria, meningitis, and other infections. Nonetheless, after publishing his work with the new antibiotic Fleming largely abandoned it, convinced that it would not retain its effectiveness in the body long enough to work against any but surface infections.
In the 1930s Fleming’s pioneering work led others at the Radcliffe Infirmary to study the ways of making penicillin an effective antibiotic, easily mass-produced. Using money provided by the British government, supplemented with funding from the United States, and led by Ernst Chain and Howard Florey, they developed the means of mass-producing the drug in the late 1930s. Mass production of penicillin began shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, primarily in the United States, with the product routed to the Allied troops. By the end of the war penicillin was widely available, hailed as a wonder drug. Fleming also pioneered research into microbes developing resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics, and cautioned against its overuse by physicians.