Alexander Fleming
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Born | Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland | 6 August 1881
Died | 11 March 1955 London, England | (aged 73)
Resting place | St Paul's Cathedral |
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Known for | Discovery of penicillin and lysozyme |
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Sir Alexander Fleming
He also discovered the
Fleming was knighted for his scientific achievements in 1944.[8] In 1999, he was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century. In 2002, he was chosen in the BBC's television poll for determining the 100 Greatest Britons, and in 2009, he was also voted third "greatest Scot" in an opinion poll conducted by STV, behind only Robert Burns and William Wallace.
Early life and education
Born on 6 August 1881 at Lochfield farm near Darvel, in Ayrshire, Scotland, Alexander Fleming was the third of four children of farmer Hugh Fleming (1816–1888) and Grace Stirling Morton (1848–1928), the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. Hugh Fleming had four surviving children from his first marriage. He was 59 at the time of his second marriage to Grace, and died when Alexander was seven.[9]
Fleming went to Loudoun Moor School and Darvel School, and earned a two-year scholarship to Kilmarnock Academy before moving to London, where he attended the Royal Polytechnic Institution.[10] After working in a shipping office for four years, the twenty-year-old Alexander Fleming inherited some money from an uncle, John Fleming. His elder brother, Tom, was already a physician and suggested to him that he should follow the same career, and so in 1903, the younger Alexander enrolled at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in Paddington (now part of Imperial College London); he qualified with an MBBS degree from the school with distinction in 1906.[9]
Fleming, who was a
Commissioned lieutenant in 1914 and promoted captain in 1917,
In 1918 he returned to St Mary's Hospital, where he was elected Professor of Bacteriology of the University of London in 1928. In 1951 he was elected the Rector of the University of Edinburgh for a term of three years.[9]
Scientific contributions
Antiseptics
During World War I, Fleming with
Discovery of lysozyme
At St Mary's Hospital, Fleming continued his investigations into bacteria culture and antibacterial substances. As his research scholar at the time V. D. Allison recalled, Fleming was not a tidy researcher and usually expected unusual bacterial growths in his culture plates. Fleming had teased Allison of his "excessive tidiness in the laboratory", and Allison rightly attributed such untidiness as the success of Fleming's experiments, and said, "[If] he had been as tidy as he thought I was, he would not have made his two great discoveries."[14]
In late 1921, while he was maintaining
His further tests with sputum, cartilage, blood, semen, ovarian cyst fluid, pus, and egg white showed that the bactericidal agent was present in all of these.[16] He reported his discovery before the Medical Research Club in December and before the Royal Society the next year but failed to stir any interest, as Allison recollected:
I was present at this [Medical Research Club] meeting as Fleming's guest. His paper describing his discovery was received with no questions asked and no discussion, which was most unusual and an indication that it was considered to be of no importance. The following year he read a paper on the subject before the Royal Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly and he and I gave a demonstration of our work. Again with one exception little comment or attention was paid to it.[14]
Reporting in the 1 May 1922 issue of the In this communication I wish to draw attention to a substance present in the tissues and secretions of the body, which is capable of rapidly dissolving certain bacteria. As this substance has properties akin to those of ferments I have called it a "Lysozyme", and shall refer to it by this name throughout the communication. The lysozyme was first noticed during some investigations made on a patient suffering from acute coryza.[15] This was the first recorded discovery of lysozyme. With Allison, he published further studies on lysozyme in October issue of the British Journal of Experimental Pathology the same year.[17] Although he was able to obtain larger amounts of lysozyme from egg whites, the enzyme was only effective against small counts of harmless bacteria, and therefore had little therapeutic potential. This indicates one of the major differences between pathogenic and harmless bacteria.[12]
Discovery of penicillin
One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, 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.
— Alexander Fleming[26]
Experiment
By 1927, Fleming had been investigating the properties of staphylococci. He was already well known from his earlier work, and had developed a reputation as a brilliant researcher. In 1928, he studied the variation of Staphylococcus aureus grown under natural condition, after the work of Joseph Warwick Bigger, who discovered that the bacterium could grow into a variety of types (strains).[27] On 3 September 1928, Fleming returned to his laboratory having spent a holiday with his family at Suffolk. Before leaving for his holiday, he inoculated staphylococci on culture plates and left them on a bench in a corner of his laboratory.[16] On his return, Fleming noticed that one culture was contaminated with a fungus, and that the colonies of staphylococci immediately surrounding the fungus had been destroyed, whereas other staphylococci colonies farther away were normal, famously remarking "That's funny".[28] Fleming showed the contaminated culture to his former assistant Merlin Pryce, who reminded him, "That's how you discovered lysozyme."[29] He identified the mould as being from the genus Penicillium. He suspected it to be P. chrysogenum, but a colleague Charles J. La Touche identified it as P. rubrum. (It was later corrected as P. notatum and then officially accepted as P. chrysogenum; in 2011, it was resolved as P. rubens.)[30][31]
The laboratory in which Fleming discovered and tested penicillin is preserved as the
Fleming grew the mould in a pure culture and found that the culture broth contained an antibacterial substance. He investigated its anti-bacterial effect on many organisms, and noticed that it affected bacteria such as staphylococci and many other
Reception and publication
Fleming presented his discovery on 13 February 1929 before the Medical Research Club. His talk on "A medium for the isolation of
As late as in 1936, there was no appreciation for penicillin. When Fleming talked of its medical importance at the Second International Congress of Microbiology held in London,[37][38] no one believed him. As Allison, his companion in both the Medical Research Club and international congress meeting, remarked the two occasions:
[Fleming at the Medical Research Club meeting] suggested the possible value of penicillin for the treatment of infection in man. Again there was a total lack of interest and no discussion. Fleming was keenly disappointed, but worse was to follow. He read a paper on his work on penicillin at a meeting of the International Congress of Microbiology, attended by the foremost bacteriologists from all over the world. There was no support for his views on its possible future value for the prevention and treatment of human infections and discussion was minimal. Fleming bore these disappointments stoically, but they did not alter his views or deter him from continuing his investigation of penicillin.[14]
In 1941, the British Medical Journal reported that "[Penicillin] does not appear to have been considered as possibly useful from any other point of view."[39][40][32]
Purification and stabilisation
In Oxford,
Norman Heatley suggested transferring the active ingredient of penicillin back into water by changing its acidity. This produced enough of the drug to begin testing on animals. There were many more people involved in the Oxford team, and at one point the entire Sir William Dunn School of Pathology was involved in its production. After the team had developed a method of purifying penicillin to an effective first stable form in 1940, several clinical trials ensued, and their amazing success inspired the team to develop methods for mass production and mass distribution in 1945.[44][45]
Fleming was modest about his part in the development of penicillin, describing his fame as the "Fleming Myth" and he praised Florey and Chain for transforming the laboratory curiosity into a practical drug. Fleming was the first to discover the properties of the active substance, giving him the privilege of naming it: penicillin. He also kept, grew, and distributed the original mould for twelve years, and continued until 1940 to try to get help from any chemist who had enough skill to make penicillin. Sir
Medical use and mass production
In his first clinical trial, Fleming treated his research scholar Stuart Craddock who had developed severe infection of the
Fleming also successfully treated severe conjunctivitis in 1932.[3][52][53] Keith Bernard Rogers, who had joined St Mary's as medical student in 1929,[54] was captain of the London University rifle team and was about to participate in an inter-hospital rifle shooting competition when he developed conjunctivitis.[55][56][57] Fleming applied his penicillin and cured Rogers before the competition.[3][52][58] It is said that the "penicillin worked and the match was won." However, the report that "Keith was probably the first patient to be treated clinically with penicillin ointment"[56] is no longer true as Paine's medical records showed up.[34]
There is a popular assertion both in popular and scientific literature that Fleming largely abandoned penicillin work in the early 1930s.
By mid-1942, the Oxford team produced the pure penicillin compound as yellow powder.
Upon this medical breakthrough, Allison informed the British
Antibiotic resistance
Fleming also discovered very early that bacteria developed
It had been experimentally shown in 1942 that S. aureus could develop penicillin resistance under prolonged exposure.[76] Elaborating the possibility of penicillin resistance in clinical conditions in his Nobel Lecture, Fleming said:
The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops. Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant.[23]
It was around that time that the first clinical case of penicillin resistance was reported.[77]
Personal life
On 24 December 1915, Fleming married a trained nurse, Sarah Marion McElroy of
Fleming came from a
When Fleming learned of Robert D. Coghill and Andrew J. Moyer patenting the method of penicillin production in the United States in 1944,[80] he was furious, and commented:
I found penicillin and have given it free for the benefit of humanity. Why should it become a profit-making monopoly of manufacturers in another country?[14]
From 1921 until his death in 1955, Fleming owned a country home named "The Dhoon" in Barton Mills, Suffolk.[4][81]
Death
On 11 March 1955, Fleming died at his home in London of a heart attack. His ashes are buried in St Paul's Cathedral.[2]
Awards and legacy
Fleming's discovery of penicillin changed the world of modern medicine by introducing the age of useful antibiotics; penicillin has saved, and is still saving, millions of people around the world.[82]
The laboratory at St Mary's Hospital where Fleming discovered penicillin is home to the Fleming Museum, a popular London attraction. His alma mater, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, merged with Imperial College London in 1988. The Sir Alexander Fleming Building on the South Kensington campus was opened in 1998, where his son Robert and his great-granddaughter Claire were presented to the Queen; it is now one of the main preclinical teaching sites of the Imperial College School of Medicine.
His other alma mater, the Royal Polytechnic Institution (now the University of Westminster) has named one of its student halls of residence Alexander Fleming House, which is near to Old Street.
- Fleming, Florey and Chain jointly received the Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1943.[1], stating:
- He was awarded the Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
- He was knighted as a Knight Bachelor by King George VI in 1944.[84][85]
- He was awarded the Medal for Merit by the President of the United States.[11]
- He was made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour by the French Republic.[11]
- He was made a Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix of Greece.[11]
- He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise (Spain) in 1948.[86]
- In 1999, Time magazine named Fleming one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century
It was a discovery that would change the course of history. The active ingredient in that mould, which Fleming named penicillin, turned out to be an infection-fighting agent of enormous potency. When it was finally recognized for what it was, the most efficacious life-saving drug in the world, penicillin would alter forever the treatment of bacterial infections. By the middle of the century, Fleming's discovery had spawned a huge
Saint-Laurent in Montreal is named in his honour.- The Fleming crater on the moon is named after him and the Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming.
- Mount Fleming in New Zealand's Paparoa Range was named after him in 1970 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.[93]
Myths
The Fleming myth
By 1942, penicillin, produced as pure compound, was still in short supply and not available for clinical use. When Fleming used the first few samples prepared by the Oxford team to treat Harry Lambert who had streptococcal meningitis,[3] the successful treatment was major news, particularly popularised in The Times. Wright was surprised to discover that Fleming and the Oxford team had not been mentioned, though Oxford was attributed as the source of the drug. Wright wrote to the editor of The Times, which eagerly interviewed Fleming, but Florey prohibited the Oxford team from seeking media coverage. As a consequence, only Fleming was widely publicised in the media,[94] which led to the misconception that he was entirely responsible for the discovery and development of the drug.[95] Fleming himself referred to this incident as "the Fleming myth."[96][97]
The Churchills
The popular story
See also
References
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- ^ a b Fleming, A. (1945). "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 -Penicillin: Nobel Lecture". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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- ^ in October 1943 Abraham proposed a molecular structure which included a cyclic formation containing three carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom, the β-lactam ring, not then known in natural products. This structure was not immediately published due to the restrictions of wartime secrecy, and was initially strongly disputed, by Sir Robert Robinson among others, but it was finally confirmed in 1945 by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin using X-ray analysis." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; "Abraham, Sir Edward Penley"
- ^ Lowe, Gordon (13 May 1999). "Obituary: Sir Edward Abraham". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
- ^ Yanes, Javier (6 August 2018). "Fleming and the Difficult Beginnings of Penicillin: Myth and Reality". OpenMind. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
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- ^ "Norman Heatley". The Independent. London. 23 January 2004. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ Henry Harris, Howard Florey and the development of penicillin, a lecture given on 29 September 1998, at the Florey Centenary, 1898–1998, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University (sound recording) [1]
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- ^ BartonMills.net local history. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ISBN 0-7487-6238-8. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
Penicillin is just one of a very large number of drugs which today are used by doctors to treat people with diseases.
- ^ "100,000 visitors in 6 days". National Museums Scotland. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
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- ^ "Discovery and Development of Penicillin". International Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "Great Britons – Top 100". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ a b Edward Lewine (2007). "Death and the Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain". p. 123. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007.
- ^ "Banknote designs mark Homecoming". BBC News. 14 January 2008. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
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- ^ e.g., The Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 July 1945: Brown, Penicillin Man, note 43 to Chapter 2
- ^ 14 November 1945; British Library Additional Manuscripts 56115: Brown, Penicillin Man, note 44 to Chapter 2
- ^ see Wikipedia Discovery of penicillin article entry for 1920
- ^ A History of May & Baker 1834–1984, Alden Press 1984.
Further reading
- The Life Of Sir Alexander Fleming, Jonathan Cape, 1959. Maurois, André.
- Nobel Lectures, the Physiology or Medicine 1942–1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1964
- An Outline History of Medicine. London: Butterworths, 1985. Rhodes, Philip.
- The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Porter, Roy, ed.
- Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution, Stroud, Sutton, 2004. Brown, Kevin.
- Alexander Fleming: The Man and the Myth, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984. Macfarlane, Gwyn
- Fleming, Discoverer of Penicillin, Ludovici, Laurence J., 1952
- The Penicillin Man: the Story of Sir Alexander Fleming, Lutterworth Press, 1957, Rowland, John.
External links
- Alexander Fleming Obituary
- Alexander Fleming on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1945 Penicillin
- Some places and memories related to Alexander Fleming
- Newspaper clippings about Alexander Fleming in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW