104
Journal of the association of physicians of india • vol 63 • march, 2015
Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)
JV Pai-Dhungat*, Falguni Parikh*
Postal Stamps released on Fleming in Dominica-1997, Transkei-1993 Penicillin-UK Millennium-1999
A
*
Dept. of Medicine, TN Medical
College & BYL Nair Ch. Hospital,
Mumbai 400 008
lexander Fleming, a British bacteriologist,
was born in Ayrshire, Southwestern
Scotland. He studied medicine at St. Mary's
Hospital Medical School, London and
qualified in 1906. He subsequently lectured
on bacteriology and clinical pathology. He
was Professor of Bacteriology at London
University from 1928 to 1948. It was in cold
damp summer of 1928 in his dingy laboratory
in St Mary's Hospital, that the now 47-year
old Fleming, opened a petri dish in which he
had Staphylococcus growth. He discovered
that the culture had been contaminated by
bluish mould (shown ion the UK stamp). The
spores had grown in to a whole colony. His
observant eye caught the microbe-free ring
around the mould, the bacteria destroying
mould was brush like and hence given the
name of Penicillium notatum. The organic
acid, which is deposited during the growth of
this common mould, was finally identified and
Penicillin was born. Its main property was, that
even in very solution it prevented the growth
of several bacteria. He tried it on a few animals
and there were no ill effects. Fleming said, "It
was this non toxicity that convinced me that
some day, it would come into its own as a
therapeutic agent". He publicised its power as
best as he could, but research had to stop due
to lack of funds.
After the discovery, it was taken over by Sir
Howard Florey (depicted on Transkei stamp)
and EB Chain who developed it for practical
use with enormous success. Seventeen years
after the discovery, Alexander Fleming shared
the 1945 Nobel Prize with them. He was
knighted in 1944.
Alexander Fleming was a modest, shy and
taciturn Scotsman. When King George and
Queen Mary were to visit the laboratories at
St Mary's Fleming was asked to display his
"bench technique". He did, but suspecting that
it might not really interest the distinguished
guests, he also prepared one of his famous
"bacterial rock garden" from the available
microbes, producing extraordinary growths
in vivid colouring. When the Queen saw
this overbearing sight, she was in complete
bewilderment.
Sir Alexander Fleming had opened up a
whole new avenue of research, so that, over
a period of time, one antibiotic led to the
discovery of another. New generations of
beta-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides,
tetracyclines, cephalosporins, quinolones have
all arrived and new ones still continue to come.