Fleming, Sir Alexander (1881-1955), was a British bacteriologist at St. Mary’s Hospital at the University of London. In 1928, he discovered the germ-killing power of the green mold, Penicillium notatum, from which the life-saving antibiotic, penicillin, was first purified (see Antibiotic ; Penicillin ). For his discovery, Fleming shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in medicine with British scientists Howard Florey and Ernst B. Chain. Florey and Chain helped develop the use of this drug (see Florey, Lord ; Chain, Ernst Boris ).
The discovery and development of penicillin opened a new era for medicine, and World War II (1939-1945) provided an opportune field trial for the drug. Fleming discovered penicillin accidentally when he saw that a bit of mold growing in a culture plate in his laboratory had destroyed bacteria around it. Fleming also discovered lysozyme, a substance found in human tears. Even when diluted, this agent can dissolve certain germs.
Fleming was born on Aug. 6, 1881, near Darvel, Scotland. He attended St. Mary’s Medical School in London. Fleming died on March 11, 1955.
