Alexander fleming and the accidental mould juice

ALEXANDER FLEMING

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Alexander Fleming is synonymous with Penicillin, an antibiotic which has contributed immensely in the fight against bacteria. What few appreciate is the fact that the road to making the drug not only practical but acceptable was not an easy one and it took many years and a lot of effort for it to be produced in large quantities. Flemings experience teaches us that change can only occur through consistent and systematic efforts rather than instant fixes. This paper examines Alexander Fleming’s life, his work on penicillin and how this work has contributed a positive change to the world.

Childhood and early career

Born in 1881 on the 6th of August in Scotland few would predict that the third born of a farmer by the name Hugh Fleming would grow to become one of the most renowned scientists in the medicine world. He attended the Loudoun Moor School where he earned a scholarship at Kilmarnock Academy and later moved to London to study at an institute named Royal Polytechnic. He was attached in a shipping Company for four years working as a shipping officer. However his uncle John Fleming was determined that Alexander should follow in his footsteps to be a physician and thus after inheriting some money from him, Alexander enrolled at a medical school in Paddington where he successfully completed his course in 1906 with a distinction in a MBBS degree. Later in 1908 he added to his increasing accolades, a BSc degree in Bacteriology and later went back to his previous medical institute to become a lecturer. In addition to his careers in the medical world, Fleming as evoked by Fleming (2007) is also known to have participated in the First World War where he took up the position of a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps and thereafter he went back to the St Mary’s hospital where he had previously worked in 1918. In 1928 he added to his long career another accolade by becoming a professor in Bacteriology at the University of London where he wrote may articles on Bacteriology, immunology and Chemotherapy.

Discovery of penicillin

It was penicillin that really put Alexander Fleming on the map though the discovery was accidental. Initially, Fleming was investigating properties of staphylococci. However, his laboratory was often untidy due to a lot of research work. He once stacked all his cultures of staphylococci in a bench in his laboratory and upon his return he found that the culture had been contaminated with a fungus, and after spotting the mould, Fleming spotted a ‘mould juice’ that he later renamed penicillin (Hugh, 2002). He carried out some investigations which proved that penicillin has some positive effects of anti-bacteria affected various bacteria such as staphylococci and other pathogens that cause diphtheria, meningitis and pneumonia but the drug nevertheless did not address the problem of Gram negative bacteria that caused the typhoid fever. However, the drug still had to undergo thorough scrutiny before it could be finally accepted as a useful drug.

Obstacles and barriers

Despite his astounding innovation, the potential of the drug was not immediately discovered and in fact he continued to face many challenges and it is not until after some decades that its real potential was realized. Raju (1999) asserted that after the discovery, Fleming published his findings in one of the journals in the world of medicine, titled ‘British Journal of Experimental Pathology’ that was not immediately accepted but he never relented in his effort to solve the quagmire that was facing the world.

Furthermore, he found out that the cultivation of penicillin was quite difficult since after growing the mould for instance, it was very challenging to separate the antibiotic agent and to complicate the matter it had to be produced in large quantities.

To add on to that, despite penicillin exhibiting the perfect slow conditions that are needed in the treatment of infections, Fleming later found out that it was not after all the perfect option to the treatment of infections. In addition, he also discovered that it did not have the ability to stay in the human body long enough to eliminate all the bacteria effectively. Most of the tests as noted by McIntyre (2007) were also inconclusive and this was mainly triggered by the fact that it had only been used as a surface antiseptic.

Lastly, he discovered that the drug caused some resistance when used in little amounts or when used for short durations. There is therefore a caution that the use of penicillin should be properly controlled and that it should only be used only under the prescription of a physician. This includes the restriction of consuming it in small durations in order to avert the likelihood of a resistance to drugs.

Steps taken by Fleming to effect change

Instead of sitting on the discovery, Fleming continued to work on it to ensure that the drug could be used though this took longer than expected as postulated by Fleming (2007).

In the 1930s and in 1940 he tested a concept that was aimed at incorporating chemistry skills in order to refine the penicillin and make it reusable. He later gave up and abandoned penicillin but his work was later taken up by Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Florey and they began producing it in mass-production with funds from the governments of Britain and the United States (Mazumdar, 1984). The mass production was particularly started after the bombings of the Pearl Harbor in 1944 where they produced penicillin that was ample enough for all the wounded soldiers in the forces.

The local and global impacts achieved by Fleming’s efforts

This discovery has left a huge impact not only in the local but also global scene. For example, this discovery has led to the discovery of many drugs in the world particularly those that treat malaria. Majority of the drugs that have been discovered in the recent years have been based on the discovery by Alexander Fleming (Raju, 1999). This has resulted to a healthier world by saving the lives of millions and its global impact is therefore immense.

Conclusion

This study affirms that Alexander Fleming is indeed one of the most renowned icons in the world of medicine. What started as an accident that emanated out of untidiness led to one of the most astounding discoveries in history? However success did not come easily nor was his discovery readily embraced but despite the intense challenges and pressures Fleming did not give up on his quest to save the world from the impending dangers of bacteria and in advocating for the legalization of the drug. His immense contribution to the medicine world and particularly the discovery of penicillin has saved the lives of millions and as such his Flemings experience teaches us that change can only occur through consistent and systematic efforts rather than instant fixes

References

Fleming ,G. A. (2007). Counterpoint—The End Point: Less is More. Journal of Diabetes, Science and Technology 5 (5): 1290-1293.

Hugh, T. (2002). Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin, The Medical journal of Australia 177 (1): 52–53; author 53 53.

Mazumdar, P. (1984). Fleming as Bacteriologist: Alexander Fleming. Science 225 (4667): 1140–1141.

McIntyre ,N. (2007). Sir Alexander Fleming.Journal of medical biography 15 (4): 234.

Raju,T. (1999). The Nobel chronicles. 1945: Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955); Sir Ernst Boris Chain (1906-79); and Baron Howard Walter Florey (1898-1968). Lancet 353 (9156): 936.

Sun ,Y. A.(2011). Disambiguation and co-authorship networks of the US Patent Inventor Database.Journal of Innovation 10 (6): 769-773.