How Did Alexander Fleming Contribute To The Discovery Of Penicillin

Many scientist become well known or famous for only one discovery or contribution to science Alexander Fleming on the other hand went beyond that. In most cases if a person were to recognize the name Alexander Flemming they would associate it to the discovery of penicillin. As major as the discovery of penicillin was and how much it contributed to science he also discovered the lysozyme. Also while he was in the war for a short time he even discovered that antiseptics that were used to fight infections were actually making it worse and killing soldiers. In 1914, Fleming age 33 at the time joined the army to help in World War I. Not long after joining he became captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps while working and helping in the field hospitals in France. In the fields they used many antiseptics like boric acid, carbolic acid, and hydrogen peroxide. These antiseptics actually made soldiers worse because they failed to kill bacteria in profound wounds and reduced to soldiers natural ability to let their bodies resist and fight the infections. The antiseptics killed white blood cells and this is why the soldiers bodies were not able to help them. Almroth Wright believed he could help this problem by using salt water on the deeper wounds. Fleming tested his theory and sure enough they had found a way to prevent soldiers from dying …show more content…
When he returned to the lab he was upset to find that fungus was growing in his petri dishes that had the bacteria staph in them. Then realizing that this may not be a bad thing at all because the around the fungal colonies the bacteria had been killed. For many months Fleming dedicated his life to growing more of the fungus. It was not until March 7, 1929 he formally named the antibiotic as we know it today, penicillin. As many scientist ignored his discovery it was not until 1945 where he got the recognition he deserved by receiving a Nobel