• Question: How did Alexander Fleming find/invent penecillin

    Asked by to Del, Catherine, John, Mo Rassul on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: John Foster

      John Foster answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      Alexander Fleming was working on bacteria. He was growing a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus on plates of nutrients in the lab. One of these plates became contaminated with a fungus called Penicillium which stopped the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria from growing. He worked out that the Penicillium fungus was releasing something to stop bacteria growth. This was an antibiotic called Penicillin and it was later isolated and used to treat bacterial infections in humans. Others had observed similar results before him, but he is credited with the discovery.

    • Photo: Adelle Thrower

      Adelle Thrower answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      There are many rumours on how he discovered it.
      Firstly he was certainly trying to find it!
      Some say he was so engrossed in his work he never ate a sandwich that’s was made for him and it went mouldy – the green mould was penicillin
      This happened at st Mary’s hospital in London where I used to work – there’s a pub close by called the fountain- they state that the bacteria from their beer taps flew in Flemings lab and helped grow penicillin.

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