Alexander Fleming was a Scottish doctor and microbiologist, who discovered the first effective antibiotic penicillin, for which he, along with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, won the Nobel Prize in 1945.
Fleming was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1881. In 1895, he moved to London to complete his basic education. Fleming pursued medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School and took up a temporary position in the Inoculation Department, where he worked under bacteriologist and immunologist Sir Almroth Edward Wright and became interested in the new field of bacteriology.
During World War I, Fleming served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He conducted research on wound infections and antiseptic treatment of soldiers in a makeshift lab set up in Boulogne, France. In 1921, Fleming discovered lysozyme, an enzyme present in body fluids such as saliva and tears that has a mild antiseptic effect. This was a significant contribution to the understanding of how the body fights infection.
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin came about in 1928, when he was investigating staphylococcus, a common type of bacteria that causes infections in people. Fleming left behind a petri dish containing a staphylococcus culture before going on a two-week vacation.
When he returned, he found that a green mould called Penicillium notatum had contaminated petri dishes in his lab and had prevented the growth of staphylococci. Though Fleming was not able to produce the antibiotic in large quantity, he published his research.
In 1938, Oxford Pathologist Howard Florey discovered Fleming’s research and expanded on it, working with a biochemist named Ernst Boris Chain. Later, British biochemist Norman Heatley developed the work, vigorously growing and purifying penicillin.
Fleming was knighted for his scientific achievements in 1944.
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