When was penicillin developed

See Coronavirus Updates for information on returning to campus, and more. Eighty-three years ago today, Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, one of the most widely used antibiotics. Inspired by what he saw on the battlefields of World War I, he went back to his laboratory at St. In , he accidentally left a petri dish in which he was growing Staphylococcus aureus bacteria uncovered. Later, he noticed that there was mold growing on the plate, and around the mold, the staph bacteria were dead.

Fleming isolated it and identified the mold as Penicillium notatum, a type of fungus that is similar to the mold that grows on bread. However, supply was limited and demand was high in the early days of penicillin. Penicillin helped reduce the number of deaths and amputations of troops during World War II. According to records, there were only million units of penicillin available during the first five months of ; by the time World War II ended, U.

To date, penicillin has become the most widely used antibiotic in the world. Fleming A. On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. British Journal of Experimental Pathology.

Haven KF. Marvels of Science: 50 Fascinating 5-Minute Reads. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited; Healio News Endocrinology. Issue: August By Katie Kalvaitis. Perspective from Theodore C. Eickhoff, MD. View Issue. Source: Fleming A. On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation ofB.

Read next. By chance, another patient at the hospital caring for Miller happened to know a British scientist who was at that very moment working on developing penicillin into a marketable drug. It was, Lax reports, a full half of the entire store of the antibiotic in the whole United States.

Why had it taken so long for the drug, which was already being tested in the U. Even in , there had only been enough penicillin made in the USA to treat about 30 people. That soon changed. After it became clear that the drug could help those wounded in World War II, the Army Medical Corps quickly asked for more to be produced.