Alexander Fleming

Sir Alexander Fleming FRS FRSE FRCS[2] (6 August

1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and Sir Alexander Fleming
FRS FRSE FRCS
microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's
first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he
named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of what was
later named benzylpenicillin (or penicillin G) from the
mould Penicillium rubens has been described as the
"single greatest victory ever achieved over
disease".[3][4] For this discovery, he shared the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard
Florey and Ernst Chain.[5][6][7]

He also discovered the enzyme lysozyme from his

nasal discharge in 1922, and along with it a bacterium
he named Micrococcus lysodeikticus, later renamed
Micrococcus luteus.

Fleming was knighted for his scientific achievements

in 1944.[8] In 1999, he was named in Time magazine's Fleming in his laboratory, c. 1943
list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Born 6 August 1881
century. In 2002, he was chosen in the BBC's Darvel, Ayrshire, Scotland
television poll for determining the 100 Greatest Died 11 March 1955 (aged 73)
Britons, and in 2009, he was also voted third "greatest London, England
Scot" in an opinion poll conducted by STV, behind
Resting St Paul's Cathedral
only Robert Burns and William Wallace.
place
Alma mater Royal Polytechnic Institution
Early life and education St Mary's Hospital Medical
School
Born on 6 August 1881 at Lochfield farm near Darvel,
Known for Discovery of penicillin and
in Ayrshire, Scotland, Alexander Fleming was the third
lysozyme
of four children of farmer Hugh Fleming and Grace
Spouses Sarah Marion McElroy
Stirling Morton, the daughter of a neighbouring farmer. ​
Hugh Fleming had four surviving children from his ​(m. 1915; died 1949)​
first marriage. He was 59 at the time of his second Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas
​
marriage to Grace, and died when Alexander was ​(m. 1953)​
seven.[9] Awards Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine (1945)[1]
Fleming went to Loudoun Moor School and Darvel
Cameron Prize for Therapeutics
School, and earned a two-year scholarship to
of the University of Edinburgh
Kilmarnock Academy before moving to London,
(1945)
where he attended the Royal Polytechnic Actonian Prize (1949)
. [10] After working in a shipping office for
Institution Scientific career
four years, the twenty-year-old Alexander Fleming
Fields Bacteriology · immunology
inherited some money from an uncle, John Fleming.
His elder brother, Tom, was already a physician and Institutions St Mary's Hospital, London
suggested to him that he should follow the same career, Signature
and so in 1903, the younger Alexander enrolled at St
Mary's Hospital Medical School in Paddington (now
part of Imperial College London); he qualified with an
MBBS degree from the school with distinction in 1906.[9]

Fleming, who was a private in the London Scottish Regiment of the Volunteer Force from 1900[5] to
1914,[11] had been a member of the rifle club at the medical school. The captain of the club, wishing to
retain Fleming in the team, suggested that he join the research department at St Mary's, where he became
assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. In 1908, he
gained a BSc degree with gold medal in bacteriology, and became a lecturer at St Mary's until 1914.

Commissioned lieutenant in 1914 and promoted captain in 1917,[11] Fleming served throughout World
War I in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and was Mentioned in Dispatches. He and many of his
colleagues worked in battlefield hospitals at the Western Front in France.

In 1918 he returned to St Mary's Hospital, where he was elected Professor of Bacteriology of the
University of London in 1928. In 1951 he was elected the Rector of the University of Edinburgh for a
term of three years.[9]

Scientific contributions

Antiseptics
During World War I, Fleming with Leonard Colebrook and Sir Almroth Wright joined the war efforts and
practically moved the entire Inoculation Department of St Mary's to the British military hospital at
Boulogne-sur-Mer. Serving as a temporary lieutenant of the Royal Army Medical Corps, he witnessed the
death of many soldiers from sepsis resulting from infected wounds. Antiseptics, which were used at the
time to treat infected wounds, he observed, often worsened the injuries.[12] In an article published in the
medical journal The Lancet in 1917, he described an ingenious experiment, which he was able to conduct
as a result of his own glassblowing skills, in which he explained why antiseptics were killing more
soldiers than infection itself during the war. Antiseptics worked well on the surface, but deep wounds
tended to shelter anaerobic bacteria from the antiseptic agent, and antiseptics seemed to remove
beneficial agents produced that protected the patients in these cases at least as well as they removed
bacteria, and did nothing to remove the bacteria that were out of reach.[13] Wright strongly supported
Fleming's findings, but despite this, most army physicians over the course of the war continued to use
antiseptics even in cases where this worsened the condition of the patients.[9]

Discovery of lysozyme
At St Mary's Hospital, Fleming continued his investigations into bacteria culture and antibacterial
substances. As his research scholar at the time V. D. Allison recalled, Fleming was not a tidy researcher
and usually expected unusual bacterial growths in his culture plates. Fleming had teased Allison of his
"excessive tidiness in the laboratory", and Allison rightly attributed such untidiness as the success of
Fleming's experiments, and said, "[If] he had been as tidy as he thought I was, he would not have made
his two great discoveries."[14]

In late 1921, while Fleming was maintaining agar plates for bacteria, he found that one of the plates was
contaminated with bacteria from the air. When he added nasal mucus, he found that the mucus inhibited
the bacterial growth.[15] Surrounding the mucus area was a clear transparent circle (1 cm from the
mucus), indicating the killing zone of bacteria, followed by a glassy and translucent ring beyond which
was an opaque area indicating normal bacterial growth. In the next test, he used bacteria maintained in
saline that formed a yellow suspension. Within two minutes of adding fresh mucus, the yellow saline
turned completely clear. He extended his tests using tears, which were contributed by his co-workers. As
Allison reminisced, saying, "For the next five or six weeks, our tears were the source of supply for this
extraordinary phenomenon. Many were the lemons we used (after the failure of onions) to produce a flow
of tears... The demand by us for tears was so great, that laboratory attendants were pressed into service,
receiving threepence for each contribution."[14]

His further tests with sputum, cartilage, blood, semen, ovarian cyst fluid, pus, and egg white showed that
the bactericidal agent was present in all of these.[16] He reported his discovery before the Medical
Research Club in December and before the Royal Society the next year but failed to stir any interest, as
Allison recollected:

I was present at this [Medical Research Club] meeting as Fleming's guest. His paper
describing his discovery was received with no questions asked and no discussion, which was
most unusual and an indication that it was considered to be of no importance. The following
year he read a paper on the subject before the Royal Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly
and he and I gave a demonstration of our work. Again with one exception little comment or
attention was paid to it.[14]

Reporting in the 1 May 1922 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences under
the title "On a remarkable bacteriolytic element found in tissues and secretions", Fleming wrote:

In this communication I wish to draw attention to a substance present in the tissues and
secretions of the body, which is capable of rapidly dissolving certain bacteria. As this
substance has properties akin to those of ferments I have called it a "Lysozyme", and shall
refer to it by this name throughout the communication. The lysozyme was first noticed
during some investigations made on a patient suffering from acute coryza.[15]

This was the first recorded discovery of lysozyme. With Allison, he published further studies on
lysozyme in October issue of the British Journal of Experimental Pathology the same year.[17] Although
he was able to obtain larger amounts of lysozyme from egg whites, the enzyme was only effective against
small counts of harmless bacteria, and therefore had little therapeutic potential. This indicates one of the
major differences between pathogenic and harmless bacteria.[12] Described in the original publication, "a
patient suffering from acute coryza"[15] was later identified as Fleming himself. His research notebook
dated 21 November 1921 showed a sketch of the culture plate with a small note: "Staphyloid coccus from
A.F.'s nose."[16] He also identified the bacterium present in the nasal mucus as Micrococcus
Lysodeikticus, giving the species name (meaning "lysis indicator" for its susceptibility to lysozymal
activity).[18] The species was reassigned as Micrococcus luteus in 1972.[19] The "Fleming strain"
(NCTC2665) of this bacterium has become a model in different biological studies.[20][21] The importance
of lysozyme was not recognised, and Fleming was well aware of this, in his presidential address at the
Royal Society of Medicine meeting on 18 October 1932, he said:

I choose lysozyme as the subject for this address for two reasons, firstly because I have a
fatherly interest in the name, and, secondly, because its importance in connection with
natural immunity does not seem to be generally appreciated.[22]

In his Nobel lecture on 11 December 1945, he briefly mentioned lysozyme, saying, "Penicillin was not
the first antibiotic I happened to discover."[23] It was only towards the end of the 20th century that the
true importance of Fleming's discovery in immunology was realised as lysozyme became the first
antimicrobial protein discovered that constitute part of our innate immunity.[24][25]

Discovery of penicillin

One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When

I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I
certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by
discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer.
But I suppose that was exactly what I did.

—Alexander Fleming[26]

An advertisement advertising
Experiment
penicillin's "miracle cure"
By 1927, Fleming had been investigating the properties of
staphylococci. He was already well known from his earlier work,
and had developed a reputation as a brilliant researcher. In 1928, he studied the variation of
Staphylococcus aureus grown under natural condition, after the work of Joseph Warwick Bigger, who
discovered that the bacterium could grow into a variety of types (strains).[27] On 3 September 1928,
Fleming returned to his laboratory having spent a holiday with his family at Suffolk. Before leaving for
his holiday, he inoculated staphylococci on culture plates and left them on a bench in a corner of his
laboratory.[16] On his return, Fleming noticed that one culture was contaminated with a fungus, and that
the colonies of staphylococci immediately surrounding the fungus had been destroyed, whereas other
staphylococci colonies farther away were normal, famously remarking "That's funny".[28] Fleming
showed the contaminated culture to his former assistant Merlin Pryce, who reminded him, "That's how
you discovered lysozyme."[29] He identified the mould as being from the genus Penicillium. He suspected
it to be P. chrysogenum, but a colleague Charles J. La Touche identified it as P. rubrum. (It was later
corrected as P. notatum and then officially accepted as P. chrysogenum; in 2011, it was resolved as P.
rubens.)[30][31]
The laboratory in which Fleming discovered and tested penicillin
is preserved as the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum in St.
Mary's Hospital, Paddington. The source of the fungal
contaminant was established in 1966 as coming from La Touche's
room, which was directly below Fleming's.[32][33]

Fleming grew the mould in a pure culture and found that the
culture broth contained an antibacterial substance. He investigated
its anti-bacterial effect on many organisms, and noticed that it
Commemorative plaque marking
affected bacteria such as staphylococci and many other Gram-
Fleming's discovery of penicillin at
positive pathogens that cause scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis St Mary's Hospital, London
and diphtheria, but not typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever, which
are caused by Gram-negative bacteria, for which he was seeking a
cure at the time. It also affected Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhoea, although this
bacterium is Gram-negative. After some months of calling it "mould juice" or "the inhibitor", he gave the
name penicillin on 7 March 1929 for the antibacterial substance present in the mould.[34]

Reception and publication

Fleming presented his discovery on 13 February 1929 before the Medical Research Club. His talk on "A
medium for the isolation of Pfeiffer's bacillus" did not receive any particular attention or comment. Henry
Dale, the then Director of National Institute for Medical Research and chair of the meeting, much later
reminisced that he did not even sense any striking point of importance in Fleming's speech.[16] Fleming
published his discovery in 1929 in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology,[35] but little attention
was paid to the article. His problem was the difficulty of producing penicillin in large amounts, and
moreover, isolation of the main compound. Even with the help of Harold Raistrick and his team of
biochemists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, chemical purification was futile. "As
a result, penicillin languished largely forgotten in the 1930s", as Milton Wainwright described.[36]

As late as in 1936, there was no appreciation for penicillin. When Fleming talked of its medical
importance at the Second International Congress of Microbiology held in London,[37][38] no one believed
him. As Allison, his companion in both the Medical Research Club and international congress meeting,
remarked the two occasions:

[Fleming at the Medical Research Club meeting] suggested the possible value of penicillin
for the treatment of infection in man. Again there was a total lack of interest and no
discussion. Fleming was keenly disappointed, but worse was to follow. He read a paper on
his work on penicillin at a meeting of the International Congress of Microbiology, attended
by the foremost bacteriologists from all over the world. There was no support for his views
on its possible future value for the prevention and treatment of human infections and
discussion was minimal. Fleming bore these disappointments stoically, but they did not alter
his views or deter him from continuing his investigation of penicillin.[14]
In 1941, the British Medical Journal reported that "[Penicillin] does not appear to have been considered
as possibly useful from any other point of view."[39][40][32]

Purification and stabilisation

In Oxford, Ernst Chain and Edward Abraham were studying the
molecular structure of the antibiotic. Abraham was the first to
propose the correct structure of penicillin.[41][42] Shortly after the
team published its first results in 1940, Fleming telephoned
Howard Florey, Chain's head of department, to say that he would
3D-model of benzylpenicillin be visiting within the next few days. When Chain heard that
Fleming was coming, he remarked "Good God! I thought he was
dead."[43]

Norman Heatley suggested transferring the active ingredient of penicillin back into water by changing its
acidity. This produced enough of the drug to begin testing on animals. There were many more people
involved in the Oxford team, and at one point the entire Sir William Dunn School of Pathology was
involved in its production. After the team had developed a method of purifying penicillin to an effective
first stable form in 1940, several clinical trials ensued, and their amazing success inspired the team to
develop methods for mass production and mass distribution in 1945.[44][45]

Fleming was modest about his part in the development of penicillin, describing his fame as the "Fleming
Myth" and he praised Florey and Chain for transforming the laboratory curiosity into a practical drug.
Fleming was the first to discover the properties of the active substance, giving him the privilege of
naming it: penicillin. He also kept, grew, and distributed the original mould for twelve years, and
continued until 1940 to try to get help from any chemist who had enough skill to make penicillin. Sir
Henry Harris summed up the process in 1998 as: "Without Fleming, no Chain; without Chain, no Florey;
without Florey, no Heatley; without Heatley, no penicillin."[46] The discovery of penicillin and its
subsequent development as a prescription drug mark the start of modern antibiotics.[47]

Medical use and mass production

In his first clinical trial, Fleming treated his research scholar Stuart Craddock who had developed severe
infection of the nasal antrum (sinusitis). The treatment started on 9 January 1929 but without any effect. It
probably was due to the fact that the infection was with influenza bacillus (Haemophilus influenzae), the
bacterium which he had found unsusceptible to penicillin.[32] Fleming gave some of his original
penicillin samples to his colleague-surgeon Arthur Dickson Wright for clinical test in 1928.[48][49]
Although Wright reportedly said that it "seemed to work satisfactorily",[50] there are no records of its
specific use. Cecil George Paine, a pathologist at the Royal Infirmary in Sheffield and former student of
Fleming, was the first to use penicillin successfully for medical treatment.[36] He cured eye infections
(conjunctivitis) of one adult and three infants (neonatal conjunctivitis) on 25 November 1930.[51]

Fleming also successfully treated severe conjunctivitis in 1932.[3][52][53] Keith Bernard Rogers, who had
joined St Mary's as medical student in 1929,[54] was captain of the London University rifle team and was
about to participate in an inter-hospital rifle shooting competition when he developed
conjunctivitis.[55][56][57] Fleming applied his penicillin and cured Rogers before the competition.[3][52][58]
 It is said that the "penicillin worked and the match was won."
However, the report that "Keith was probably the first patient to be
treated clinically with penicillin ointment"[56] is no longer true as
Paine's medical records showed up.[34]

There is a popular assertion both in popular and scientific

literature that Fleming largely abandoned penicillin work in the
early 1930s.[59][60][61][62] In his review of André Maurois's The
Life of Sir Alexander Fleming, Discoverer of Penicillin, William
L. Kissick went so far as to say that "Fleming had abandoned
penicillin in 1932... Although the recipient of many honors and the
author of much scientific work, Sir Alexander Fleming does not
Fleming in his laboratory in 1943
appear to be an ideal subject for a biography."[63] This is false, as
Fleming continued to pursue penicillin research.[49][64] As late as
in 1939, Fleming's notebook shows attempts to make better penicillin production using different
media.[34] In 1941, he published a method for assessment of penicillin effectiveness.[65] As to the
chemical isolation and purification, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford
took up the research to mass-produce it, which they achieved with support from World War II military
projects under the British and US governments.[66]

By mid-1942, the Oxford team produced the pure penicillin compound as yellow powder.[67] In August
1942, Harry Lambert (an associate of Fleming's brother Robert) was admitted to St Mary's Hospital due
to a life-threatening infection of the nervous system (streptococcal meningitis).[4] Fleming treated him
with sulphonamides, but Lambert's condition deteriorated. He tested the antibiotic susceptibility and
found that his penicillin could kill the bacteria. He requested Florey for the isolated sample. Florey sent
the incompletely purified sample, which Fleming immediately administered into Lambert's spinal canal.
Lambert showed signs of improvement the very next day,[14] and completely recovered within a
week.[3][68] Fleming published the clinical case in The Lancet in 1943.[69]

Upon this medical breakthrough, Allison informed the British Ministry of Health of the importance of
penicillin and the need for mass production. The War Cabinet was convinced of the usefulness upon
which Sir Cecil Weir, Director General of Equipment, called for a meeting on the mode of action on 28
September 1942.[70][71] The Penicillin Committee was created on 5 April 1943. The committee consisted
of Weir as chairman, Fleming, Florey, Sir Percival Hartley, Allison and representatives from
pharmaceutical companies as members. The main goals were to produce penicillin rapidly in large
quantities with collaboration of American companies, and to supply the drug exclusively for Allied armed
forces.[14] By D-Day in 1944, enough penicillin had been produced to treat all the wounded of the Allied
troops.[72]

Antibiotic resistance
Fleming also discovered very early that bacteria developed antibiotic resistance whenever too little
penicillin was used or when it was used for too short a period. Almroth Wright had predicted antibiotic
resistance even before it was noticed during experiments. Fleming cautioned about the use of penicillin in
his many speeches around the world. On 26 June 1945, he made the following cautionary statements: "the
microbes are educated to resist penicillin and a host of penicillin-fast organisms is bred out ... In such
cases the thoughtless person playing with penicillin is morally responsible for the death of the man who
finally succumbs to infection with the penicillin-resistant
organism. I hope this evil can be averted."[73] He cautioned not to
use penicillin unless there was a properly diagnosed reason for it
to be used, and that if it were used, never to use too little, or for
too short a period, since these are the circumstances under which
bacterial resistance to antibiotics develops.[74]

It had been experimentally shown in 1942 that S. aureus could

develop penicillin resistance under prolonged exposure.[75]
Elaborating the possibility of penicillin resistance in clinical
conditions in his Nobel Lecture, Fleming said: Modern antibiotics are tested using
a method similar to Fleming's
The time may come when penicillin can be bought by discovery.
anyone in the shops. Then there is the danger that the
ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by
exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the
drug make them resistant.[23]

It was around that time that the first clinical case of penicillin resistance was reported.[76]

Personal life
On 24 December 1915, Fleming married a trained nurse, Sarah
Marion McElroy of Killala, County Mayo, Ireland. Their only
child, Robert Fleming (1924–2015), became a general medical
practitioner. After his first wife's death in 1949, Fleming married
Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, a Greek colleague at St. Mary's, on 9
April 1953; she died in 1986.[77]

Fleming came from a Presbyterian background, while his first

wife Sarah was a (lapsed) Roman Catholic. It is said that he was Grave of Sir Alexander Fleming in
not particularly religious, and their son Robert was later received the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral,
into the Anglican church, while still reportedly inheriting his two London
parents' fairly irreligious disposition.[78]

When Fleming learned of Robert D. Coghill and Andrew J. Moyer patenting the method of penicillin
production in the United States in 1944,[79] he was furious, and commented:

I found penicillin and have given it free for the benefit of humanity. Why should it become a
profit-making monopoly of manufacturers in another country?[14]
From 1921 until his death in 1955, Fleming owned a country home named "The Dhoon" in Barton Mills,
Suffolk.[4][80]

Death
On 11 March 1955, Fleming died at his home in London of a heart attack. His ashes are buried in St
Paul's Cathedral.[1]

Awards and legacy

Fleming's discovery of penicillin changed the world of modern
medicine by introducing the age of useful antibiotics; penicillin
has saved, and is still saving, millions of people around the
world.[81]

The laboratory at St Mary's Hospital where Fleming discovered

penicillin is home to the Fleming Museum, a popular London
attraction. His alma mater, St Mary's Hospital Medical School,
merged with Imperial College London in 1988. The Sir Alexander
Fleming Building on the South Kensington campus was opened in
1998, where his son Robert and his great-granddaughter Claire Display of Fleming's awards,
were presented to the Queen; it is now one of the main preclinical including his Nobel Prize. Also
shows a sample of penicillin and an
teaching sites of the Imperial College School of Medicine.
example of an early apparatus for
preparing it.
His other alma mater, the Royal Polytechnic Institution (now the
University of Westminster) has named one of its student halls of
residence Alexander Fleming House, which is near to Old Street.

Fleming, Florey and Chain jointly received the Nobel

Prize in Medicine in 1945. According to the rules of the
Nobel committee, a maximum of three people may share
the prize. Fleming's Nobel Prize medal was acquired by
the National Museums of Scotland in 1989 and is on
display after the museum re-opened in 2011.[82]
He was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sir Alexander Fleming (centre)
Sciences.[5] receiving the Nobel prize from King
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in Gustaf V of Sweden (right) in 1945
1943. [2]

He was awarded the Hunterian Professorship by the

Royal College of Surgeons of England.
He was knighted as a Knight Bachelor by King George VI in 1944.[83][84]
He was awarded the Medal for Merit by the President of the United States.[11]
He was made a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour by the French Republic.[11]
He was made a Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix of Greece.[11]
He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise (Spain) in 1948.[85]
In 1999, Time magazine named Fleming one of the 100
Most Important People of the 20th century, stating:

It was a discovery that would change the

course of history. The active ingredient in that
mould, which Fleming named penicillin, turned
out to be an infection-fighting agent of
enormous potency. When it was finally
recognized for what it was, the most efficacious
life-saving drug in the world, penicillin would
alter forever the treatment of bacterial Faroe Islands postage stamp
infections. By the middle of the century, commemorating Fleming

Fleming's discovery had spawned a huge

pharmaceutical industry, churning out synthetic
penicillins that would conquer some of
mankind's most ancient scourges, including
syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.[86]

The importance of his work was recognized by the

placement of an International Historic Chemical
Landmark plaque at the Alexander Fleming Laboratory
Museum in London on 19 November 1999.[87]
When 2000 was approaching, at least three large
Swedish magazines ranked penicillin as the most
important discovery of the millennium.
In 2002, Fleming was named in the BBC's list of the 100
Greatest Britons following a nationwide vote.[88]
A statue of him stands outside the main bullring in
Madrid, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas.[89] It was erected
by subscription from grateful matadors, as penicillin Barcelona to Sir Alexander Fleming
greatly reduced the number of deaths in the bullring.[89] (1956), by Catalan sculptor Josep
Flemingovo náměstí is a square named after Fleming in Manuel Benedicto. Barcelona:
the university area of the Dejvice community in Prague. jardins del Doctor Fleming.
A secondary school is named after him in Sofia,
Bulgaria.
In Athens, a small square in the downtown district of Votanikos is named after Fleming and
bears his bust. There are also a number of streets in greater Athens and other towns in
Greece named after either Fleming or his Greek second wife Amalia.
In mid-2009, he was commemorated on a new series of banknotes issued by the
Clydesdale Bank; his image appears on the new issue of £5 notes.[90]
In 2009, Fleming was voted third greatest Scot in an opinion poll conducted by STV, behind
only Scotland's national poet Robert Burns and national hero William Wallace.[91]
91006 Fleming, an asteroid in the Asteroid Belt, is named after him.
Fleming metro station, on the Thessaloniki Metro system, takes its name from Fleming
Street on which it is located.
Sir Alexander Fleming College, a British school in Trujillo, northern Perú
He and Howard Florey were jointly awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the
University of Edinburgh in 1945.
 Rue Alexander Fleming in the borough of Saint-Laurent in Montreal is named in his honour.
The Fleming crater on the moon is named after him and the Scottish astronomer Williamina
Fleming.
Mount Fleming in New Zealand's Paparoa Range was named after him in 1970 by the
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.[92]
Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", a research organization in
Greece established in the vision of his wife Amalia Fleming.

Myths

The Fleming myth

By 1942, penicillin, produced as pure compound, was still in short supply and not available for clinical
use. When Fleming used the first few samples prepared by the Oxford team to treat Harry Lambert who
had streptococcal meningitis,[3] the successful treatment was major news, particularly popularised in The
Times. Wright was surprised to discover that Fleming and the Oxford team had not been mentioned,
though Oxford was attributed as the source of the drug. Wright wrote to the editor of The Times, which
eagerly interviewed Fleming, but Florey prohibited the Oxford team from seeking media coverage. As a
consequence, only Fleming was widely publicised in the media,[93] which led to the misconception that
he was entirely responsible for the discovery and development of the drug.[94] Fleming himself referred
to this incident as "the Fleming myth."[95][96]

The Churchills
The popular story[97] of Winston Churchill's father paying for Fleming's education after Fleming's father
saved young Winston from death is false.[94] According to the biography, Penicillin Man: Alexander
Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution by Kevin Brown, Alexander Fleming, in a letter[98] to his friend
and colleague Andre Gratia,[99] described this as "A wondrous fable." Nor did he save Winston Churchill
himself during World War II. Churchill was saved by Lord Moran, using sulphonamides, since he had no
experience with penicillin, when Churchill fell ill in Carthage in Tunisia in 1943. The Daily Telegraph
and The Morning Post on 21 December 1943 wrote that he had been saved by penicillin. He was saved by
the new sulphonamide drug sulphapyridine, known at the time under the research code M&B 693,
discovered and produced by May & Baker Ltd, Dagenham, Essex – a subsidiary of the French group
Rhône-Poulenc. In a subsequent radio broadcast, Churchill referred to the new drug as "This admirable
M&B".[100]

See also
Fleming Prize Lecture
People on Scottish banknotes

References
1. "Sir Alexander Fleming – Biography" (https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laur
eates/1945/fleming-bio.html). Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
 2. Colebrook, L. (1956). "Alexander Fleming 1881–1955". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of
the Royal Society. 2: 117–126. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1956.0008 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsb
m.1956.0008). JSTOR 769479 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/769479). S2CID 71887808 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:71887808).
3. Bennett, Joan W.; Chung, King-Thom (2001). "Alexander Fleming and the discovery of
penicillin" (https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0065216401490137). Advances in
Applied Microbiology. 49. Elsevier: 163–184. doi:10.1016/s0065-2164(01)49013-7 (https://d
oi.org/10.1016%2Fs0065-2164%2801%2949013-7). ISBN 978-0-12-002649-4.
PMID 11757350 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11757350). Retrieved 17 October 2020.
4. Ligon, B. Lee (2004). "Sir Alexander Fleming: Scottish researcher who discovered penicillin"
(https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1045187004000184). Seminars in Pediatric
Infectious Diseases. 15 (1): 58–64. doi:10.1053/j.spid.2004.02.002 (https://doi.org/10.105
3%2Fj.spid.2004.02.002). PMID 15175996 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15175996).
5. "Alexander Fleming Biography" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110130092208/http://nobelpr
ize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming.html). Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel
Foundation. 1945. Archived from the original (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/la
ureates/1945/fleming.html) on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
6. Hugh, T. B. (2002). "Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin". The
Medical Journal of Australia. 177 (1): 52–53. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04643.x (http
s://doi.org/10.5694%2Fj.1326-5377.2002.tb04643.x). PMID 12436980 (https://pubmed.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/12436980). S2CID 222048204 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:22204
8204).
7. Cruickshank, Robert (1955). "Sir Alexander Fleming, F.R.S." (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p
mc/articles/PMC1023893) Nature. 175 (4459): 355–356. Bibcode:1955Natur.175..663C (htt
ps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1955Natur.175..663C). doi:10.1038/175663a0 (https://doi.or
g/10.1038%2F175663a0). PMC 1023893 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10
23893). PMID 13271592 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13271592).
8. McIntyre, N. (2007). "Sir Alexander Fleming". Journal of Medical Biography. 15 (4): 234.
doi:10.1258/j.jmb.2007.05-72 (https://doi.org/10.1258%2Fj.jmb.2007.05-72).
PMID 18615899 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18615899). S2CID 77187550 (https://api.
semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:77187550).
9. Mazumdar, P. M. (1984). "Fleming as Bacteriologist: Alexander Fleming". Science. 225
(4667): 1140–1141. Bibcode:1984Sci...225.1140C (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1984S
ci...225.1140C). doi:10.1126/science.225.4667.1140 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.22
5.4667.1140). PMID 17782415 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17782415).
10. Brown, Kevin (2004). Penicillin man : Alexander Fleming and the antibiotic revolution (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=PP06AwAAQBAJ&q=Alexander+Fleming++Loudoun+Moor
&pg=PT27). Stroud: Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-3152-6. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
11. Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes. Kelly's. 1955. p. 802.
12. Tan, S. Y.; Tatsumura, Y. (July 2015). "Alexander Fleming (1881–1955): Discoverer of
penicillin" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520913). Singapore Medical
Journal. 56 (7): 366–367. doi:10.11622/smedj.2015105 (https://doi.org/10.11622%2Fsmedj.
2015105). PMC 4520913 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520913).
PMID 26243971 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26243971).
13. Fleming, Alexander (September 1917). "The Physiological and Antiseptic Action of Flavine
(With Some Observations on the Testing of Antiseptics)" (https://zenodo.org/record/209829
8). The Lancet. 190 (4905): 341–345. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(01)52126-1 (https://doi.org/1
0.1016%2FS0140-6736%2801%2952126-1).
14. Allison, V. D. (1974). "Personal recollections of Sir Almroth Wright and Sir Alexander
Fleming" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2385475). The Ulster Medical
Journal. 43 (2): 89–98. PMC 2385475 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2385
475). PMID 4612919 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4612919).
15. Fleming, A. (1922). "On a remarkable bacteriolytic element found in tissues and secretions"
(https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.1922.0023). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 93 (653):
306–317. Bibcode:1922RSPSB..93..306F (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1922RSPSB..
93..306F). doi:10.1098/rspb.1922.0023 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.1922.0023).
16. Lalchhandama, Kholhring (2020). "Reappraising Fleming's snot and mould" (https://www.sci
encevision.org/issue/44/article/292). Science Vision. 20 (1): 29–42.
doi:10.33493/scivis.20.01.03 (https://doi.org/10.33493%2Fscivis.20.01.03).
17. Fleming, Alexander; Allison, V. D. (1922). "Observations on a Bacteriolytic Substance
("Lysozyme") Found in Secretions and Tissues" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC2047739). British Journal of Experimental Pathology. 3 (5): 252–260. PMC 2047739 (htt
ps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2047739).
18. Salton, M. R. J. (1957). "The properties of lysozyme and its action on micororganisms" (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC180888). Bacteriological Reviews. 21 (2): 82–
100. doi:10.1128/MMBR.21.2.82-100.1957 (https://doi.org/10.1128%2FMMBR.21.2.82-100.
1957). PMC 180888 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC180888).
PMID 13436356 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13436356).
19. Schleifer, K. H.; Kloos, W. E.; Moore, A. (1972). "Taxonomic Status of Micrococcus luteus
(Schroeter 1872) Cohn 1872: Correlation Between Peptidoglycan Type and Genetic
Compatibility" (https://doi.org/10.1099%2F00207713-22-4-224). International Journal of
Systematic Bacteriology. 22 (4): 224–227. doi:10.1099/00207713-22-4-224 (https://doi.org/1
0.1099%2F00207713-22-4-224).
20. Young, Michael; Artsatbanov, Vladislav; Beller, Harry R.; Chandra, Govind; Chater, Keith F.;
Dover, Lynn G.; Goh, Ee-Been; Kahan, Tamar; Kaprelyants, Arseny S.; Kyrpides, Nikos;
Lapidus, Alla (2010). "Genome Sequence of the Fleming Strain of Micrococcus luteus, a
Simple Free-Living Actinobacterium" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC281245
0). Journal of Bacteriology. 192 (3): 841–860. doi:10.1128/JB.01254-09 (https://doi.org/10.1
128%2FJB.01254-09). PMC 2812450 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC28124
50). PMID 19948807 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19948807).
21. Canada, Environment and Climate Change (23 February 2018). "Final Screening
Assessment of Micrococcus luteus strain ATCC 4698" (https://www.canada.ca/en/environme
nt-climate-change/services/evaluating-existing-substances/screening-assessment-micrococ
cus-luteus.html). aem. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
22. Fleming, Alexander (1932). "Lysozyme" (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F003591573202600201).
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 26 (2): 71–84.
doi:10.1177/003591573202600201 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F003591573202600201).
S2CID 209362460 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:209362460).
23. Fleming, A. (1945). "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 – Penicillin: Nobel
Lecture" (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1945/fleming/lecture/). NobelPrize.org.
Retrieved 17 October 2020.
24. Gallo, Richard L. (2013). "The birth of innate immunity" (http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/exd.12
197). Experimental Dermatology. 22 (8): 517. doi:10.1111/exd.12197 (https://doi.org/10.111
1%2Fexd.12197). PMID 23879811 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23879811).
S2CID 23482849 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:23482849).
25. Ragland, Stephanie A.; Criss, Alison K. (2017). "From bacterial killing to immune
modulation: Recent insights into the functions of lysozyme" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p
mc/articles/PMC5608400). PLOS Pathogens. 13 (9): e1006512.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1006512 (https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1006512).
PMC 5608400 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608400). PMID 28934357
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28934357).
26. Haven, Kendall F. (1994). Marvels of Science : 50 Fascinating 5-Minute Reads. Littleton,
Colo: Libraries Unlimited. p. 182. ISBN 1-56308-159-8.
27. Bigger, Joseph W.; Boland, C. R.; O'meara, R. A. Q. (1927). "Variant colonies
ofStaphylococcus aureus". The Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology. 30 (2): 261–269.
doi:10.1002/path.1700300204 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fpath.1700300204).
28. Brown, K. (2004). Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution. 320 pp.
Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3152-3.
29. Hare, R. The Birth of Penicillin, Allen & Unwin, London, 1970
30. Houbraken, Jos; Frisvad, Jens C.; Samson, Robert A. (2011). "Fleming's penicillin
producing strain is not Penicillium chrysogenum but P. rubens" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go
v/pmc/articles/PMC3317369). IMA Fungus. 2 (1): 87–95.
doi:10.5598/imafungus.2011.02.01.12 (https://doi.org/10.5598%2Fimafungus.2011.02.01.1
2). PMC 3317369 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317369).
PMID 22679592 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22679592).
31. Hibbett, David S.; Taylor, John W. (2013). "Fungal systematics: is a new age of
enlightenment at hand?" (https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2963). Nature Reviews
Microbiology. 11 (2): 129–133. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2963 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnrmicro
2963). PMID 23288349 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23288349). S2CID 17070407 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:17070407).
32. Hare, R. (1982). "New light on the history of penicillin" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti
cles/PMC1139110). Medical History. 26 (1): 1–24. doi:10.1017/s0025727300040758 (http
s://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0025727300040758). PMC 1139110 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC1139110). PMID 7047933 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7047933).
33. Curry, J. (1981). "Obituary: C. J. La Touche". Medical Mycology. 19 (2): 164.
doi:10.1080/00362178185380261 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00362178185380261).
34. Diggins, F. W. (1999). "The true history of the discovery of penicillin, with refutation of the
misinformation in the literature". British Journal of Biomedical Science. 56 (2): 83–93.
PMID 10695047 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10695047).
35. Fleming, Alexander (1929). "On the antibacterial action of cultures of a Penicillium, with
special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC2041430). British Journal of Experimental Pathology. 10 (3): 226–236.
PMC 2041430 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2041430). PMID 2048009 (ht
tps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2048009).; Reprinted as Fleming, A. (1979). "On the
antibacterial action of cultures of a Penicillium, with special reference to their use in the
isolation of B. influenzae" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2041430). British
Journal of Experimental Pathology. 60 (1): 3–13. PMC 2041430 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC2041430).
36. Wainwright, Milton (1993). "The Mystery of the Plate: Fleming's Discovery and Contribution
to the Early Development of Penicillin" (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/096777209
300100113). Journal of Medical Biography. 1 (1): 59–65. doi:10.1177/096777209300100113
(https://doi.org/10.1177%2F096777209300100113). PMID 11639213 (https://pubmed.ncbi.n
lm.nih.gov/11639213). S2CID 7578843 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:7578843).
37. "International Congress of Microbiology" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC245
7049). British Medical Journal. 2 (3944): 307–310. 1936. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3943.253 (http
s://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.2.3943.253). PMC 2457049 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/a
rticles/PMC2457049).
38. Dixon, Bernard (1986). "A Salute to the Pioneers of Microbiology" (https://doi.org/10.1038%
2Fnbt0886-681). Nature Biotechnology. 4 (8): 681. doi:10.1038/nbt0886-681 (https://doi.org/
10.1038%2Fnbt0886-681). S2CID 37941905 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:379
41905).
39. "Annotations" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2162429). British Medical
Journal. 2 (4208): 310–312. August 1941. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4208.310 (https://doi.org/10.11
36%2Fbmj.2.4208.310). PMC 2162429 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC216
2429). PMID 20783842 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20783842).
40. Fleming, A. (September 1941). "Penicillin" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2
162878). British Medical Journal. 2 (4210): 386. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4210.386 (https://doi.org/
10.1136%2Fbmj.2.4210.386). PMC 2162878 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PM
C2162878).
41. in October 1943 Abraham proposed a molecular structure which included a cyclic formation
containing three carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom, the β-lactam ring, not then known in
natural products. This structure was not immediately published due to the restrictions of
wartime secrecy, and was initially strongly disputed, by Sir Robert Robinson among others,
but it was finally confirmed in 1945 by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin using X-ray analysis."
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; "Abraham, Sir Edward Penley"
42. Lowe, Gordon (13 May 1999). "Obituary: Sir Edward Abraham" (https://www.independent.c
o.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-edward-abraham-1093226.html). The Independent.
London. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222647/http://www.independent.c
o.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-edward-abraham-1093226.html) from the original on 4
October 2013.
43. Yanes, Javier (6 August 2018). "Fleming and the Difficult Beginnings of Penicillin: Myth and
Reality" (https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/bioscience/fleming-and-the-difficult-be
ginnings-of-penicillin-myth-and-reality/). OpenMind. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
44. Moberg, C. (1991). "Penicillin's forgotten man: Norman Heatley". Science. 253 (5021): 734–
735. Bibcode:1991Sci...253..734M (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1991Sci...253..734M).
doi:10.1126/science.1876832 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1876832). PMID 1876832
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1876832).
45. "Norman Heatley" (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/norman-heatley-37866.ht
ml). The Independent. London. 23 January 2004. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/202
01116013016/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/norman-heatley-37866.html)
from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
46. Henry Harris, Howard Florey and the development of penicillin, a lecture given on 29
September 1998, at the Florey Centenary, 1898–1998, Sir William Dunn School of
Pathology, Oxford University (sound recording) [1] (http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1610
017)
47. Conly, J. M.; Johnston, B. L. (2005). "Where are all the new antibiotics? The new antibiotic
paradox" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2095020). Canadian Journal of
Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology. 16 (3): 159–160. doi:10.1155/2005/892058
(https://doi.org/10.1155%2F2005%2F892058). PMC 2095020 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC2095020). PMID 18159536 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18159536).
48. Wainwright, M.; Swan, H. T. (1987). "The Sheffield penicillin story" (https://linkinghub.elsevie
r.com/retrieve/pii/S0269915X87800228). Mycologist. 1 (1): 28–30. doi:10.1016/S0269-
915X(87)80022-8 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0269-915X%2887%2980022-8).
49. Wainwright, Milton (1990). "Besredka's "antivirus" in relation to Fleming's initial views on the
nature of penicillin" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1036002). Medical
History. 34 (1): 79–85. doi:10.1017/S0025727300050286 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025
727300050286). PMC 1036002 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1036002).
PMID 2405221 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2405221).
50. Wainwright, M. (1987). "The history of the therapeutic use of crude penicillin" (https://www.n
cbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139683). Medical History. 31 (1): 41–50.
doi:10.1017/s0025727300046305 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0025727300046305).
PMC 1139683 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139683). PMID 3543562 (ht
tps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3543562).
51. Wainwright, M.; Swan, H. T. (January 1986). "C.G. Paine and the earliest surviving clinical
records of penicillin therapy" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139580).
Medical History. 30 (1): 42–56. doi:10.1017/S0025727300045026 (https://doi.org/10.1017%
2FS0025727300045026). PMC 1139580 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11
39580). PMID 3511336 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3511336).
52. Howie, J. (1986). "Penicillin: 1929–40" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1340
901). British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.). 293 (6540): 158–159.
doi:10.1136/bmj.293.6540.158 (https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.293.6540.158).
PMC 1340901 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1340901). PMID 3089435 (ht
tps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3089435).
53. Glover, J. (1986). "The MRC and informed consent" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl
es/PMC1340900). British Medical Journal. 293 (6540): 157–158.
doi:10.1136/bmj.293.6540.157 (https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.293.6540.157).
PMC 1340900 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1340900). PMID 3089434 (ht
tps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3089434).
54. Heaman, Elsbeth A. (2003). St Mary's: The History of a London Teaching Hospital (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/144085272). Montreal, Que.: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 212.
ISBN 978-0-7735-7086-3. OCLC 144085272 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/144085272).
55. Marko, Vladimir (2020). "Penicillin". From Aspirin to Viagra: Stories of the Drugs that
Changed the World (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1164582807). Springer. pp. 105–106.
doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44286-6_5 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-030-44286-6_5).
ISBN 978-3-030-44286-6. OCLC 1164582807 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/116458280
7). S2CID 241636139 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:241636139).
56. Rossiter, Peter (2005). "Keith Bernard Rogers" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P
MC1200632). The BMJ. 331 (7516): 579. doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7516.579-c (https://doi.org/1
0.1136%2Fbmj.331.7516.579-c). PMC 1200632 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC1200632).
57. Maurois, André (1963). The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming: Discoverer of Penicillin (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=qOtWAAAAYAAJ&q=conjunctivitis+rogers+penicillin). Penguin
Books. p. 156. ISBN 1-199-30814-5.
58. Aronson, J. K. (1992). "Penicillin" (http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF00314911). European
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 42 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1007/BF00314911 (https://doi.org/10.1
007%2FBF00314911). PMID 1541305 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1541305).
S2CID 62877498 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:62877498).
59. Kyle, Robert A.; Steensma, David P.; Shampo, Marc A. (2015). "Howard Walter Florey –
Production of Penicillin" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.mayocp.2014.12.028). Mayo Clinic
Proceedings. 90 (6): e63–64. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.12.028 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2
Fj.mayocp.2014.12.028). PMID 26046419 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26046419).
60. Shama, Gilbert (2017). "Miracle near 34th street: Wartime Penicillin Research at St John's
University, NY" (https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0160932717300959).
Endeavour. 41 (4): 217–220. doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2017.09.003 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2Fj.endeavour.2017.09.003). PMID 29055651 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2905565
1).
61. Morin, Robert B.; Gorman, Marvin (2014). Penicillins and Cephalosporins (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=XE2eBQAAQBAJ&q=Fleming+abandoned+penicillin). Academic Press.
pp. xxii. ISBN 978-1-4832-7719-6.
62. Ward, John W.; Warren, Christian (2006). Silent Victories: The History and Practice of Public
Health in Twentieth-Century America (https://books.google.com/books?id=5SDkvRBkQXAC
&q=Fleming+abandoned+penicillin). Oxford University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-19-974798-
6.
63. Kissick, William L. (1959). "The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming, Discoverer of Penicillin" (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2604061). The Yale Journal of Biology and
Medicine. 32 (2): 140. PMC 2604061 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC26040
61).
64. Wainwright, Milton (2002). "Fleming's unfinished" (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/26157).
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 45 (4): 529–538. doi:10.1353/pbm.2002.0065 (https://
doi.org/10.1353%2Fpbm.2002.0065). PMID 12388885 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/123
88885). S2CID 32684352 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:32684352).
65. Fleming, A. (1942). "In-vitro Tests of Penicillin Potency" (https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrie
ve/pii/S0140673600703680). The Lancet. 239 (6199): 732–733. doi:10.1016/S0140-
6736(00)70368-0 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2800%2970368-0).
66. Bickel, L. Florey: The Man Who Made Penicillin, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1972.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21266280
67. Abraham, E. P.; Chain, E.; Holiday, E. R. (1942). "Purification and Some Physical and
Chemical Properties of Penicillin" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2065494).
British Journal of Experimental Pathology. 23 (3): 103–119. PMC 2065494 (https://www.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2065494).
68. Cairns, H.; Lewin, W. S.; Duthie, E. S.; Smith, Honor V. (1944). "Pneumococcal Meningitis
Treated with Penicillin" (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067360077085
1). The Lancet. 243 (6299): 655–659. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)77085-1 (https://doi.org/1
0.1016%2FS0140-6736%2800%2977085-1).
69. Fleming, Alexander (1943). "Streptococcal Meningitis treated With Penicillin" (https://linkingh
ub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673600874528). The Lancet. 242 (6267): 434–438.
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)87452-8 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2800%2987
452-8).
70. Mathews, John A. (2008). "The Birth of the Biotechnology Era: Penicillin in Australia, 1943–
80" (https://doi.org/10.1080/08109020802459306). Prometheus. 26 (4): 317–333.
doi:10.1080/08109020802459306 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F08109020802459306).
S2CID 143123783 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143123783).
71. Baldry, Peter (1976). The Battle Against Bacteria: A Fresh Look (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=rvs8AAAAIAAJ). CUP Archive. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-521-21268-7.
72. Richards, A. N. (1964). "Production of penicillin in the United States (1941–1946)" (https://pu
bmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14164615). Nature. 201 (4918): 441–445.
Bibcode:1964Natur.201..441R (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964Natur.201..441R).
doi:10.1038/201441a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F201441a0). PMID 14164615 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14164615). S2CID 4296757 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusI
D:4296757).
73. Fishman, Neil; Infectious Diseases Society of America; Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Society (April 2012). "Policy statement on antimicrobial stewardship by the Society for
Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America
(IDSA), & the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS)" (https://www.cambridge.org/cor
e/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/48207C6BE27AB8C26F17672EF25F5808/S01
95941700041175a.pdf/div-class-title-policy-statement-on-antimicrobial-stewardship-by-the-s
ociety-for-healthcare-epidemiology-of-america-shea-the-infectious-diseases-society-of-amer
ica-idsa-and-the-pediatric-infectious-diseases-society-pids-div.pdf) (PDF). Infection Control
& Hospital Epidemiology. 33 (4): 322–327. doi:10.1086/665010 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F
665010). PMID 22418625 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22418625). S2CID 24828623 (h
ttps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:24828623). Archived (https://ghostarchive.org/archi
ve/20221009/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/48
207C6BE27AB8C26F17672EF25F5808/S0195941700041175a.pdf/div-class-title-policy-stat
ement-on-antimicrobial-stewardship-by-the-society-for-healthcare-epidemiology-of-america-
shea-the-infectious-diseases-society-of-america-idsa-and-the-pediatric-infectious-diseases-
society-pids-div.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
74. Rosenblatt-Farrell, Noah (2009). "The Landscape of Antibiotic Resistance" (https://www.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702430). Environmental Health Perspectives. 117 (6): 244–
150. doi:10.1289/ehp.117-a244 (https://doi.org/10.1289%2Fehp.117-a244). PMC 2702430
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702430). PMID 19590668 (https://pubmed.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19590668).
75. Rammelkamp, Charles H.; Maxon, Thelma (1942). "Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to
the Action of Penicillin" (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3181/00379727-51-13986).
Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 51 (3): 386–389.
doi:10.3181/00379727-51-13986 (https://doi.org/10.3181%2F00379727-51-13986).
S2CID 87530495 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:87530495).
76. Plough, Harold H. (1945). "Penicillin Resistance of Staphylococcus Aureus and its Clinical
Implications" (https://academic.oup.com/ajcp/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ajcp/15.10.446).
American Journal of Clinical Pathology. 15 (10): 446–451. doi:10.1093/ajcp/15.10.446 (http
s://doi.org/10.1093%2Fajcp%2F15.10.446). PMID 21005048 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/21005048).
77. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (https://
web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biogr
aphical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf) (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-
902198-84-X. Archived from the original (https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/bio
graphical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf) (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
78. Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution. The History Press.
September 2005. ISBN 0-7509-3153-1.
79. US 2423873 (https://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2423873),
Coghill, Robert D. & Moyer, Andrew J., "Method for production of increased yields of
penicillin", published 15 July 1947
80. BartonMills.net local history (http://www.bartonmills.net/local-history/). Retrieved 17 October
2016.
81. Roberts, Michael; Ingram, Neil (2001). Biology (https://books.google.com/books?id=juiDySq
WVYkC&pg=PT120) (2nd, illustrated ed.). Nelson Thornes. p. 105. ISBN 0-7487-6238-8.
Retrieved 4 March 2012. "Penicillin is just one of a very large number of drugs which today
are used by doctors to treat people with diseases."
82. "100,000 visitors in 6 days" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120223192704/http://www.nms.a
c.uk/about_us/about_us/press_office/press_releases/2011/100%2C000_visitors_in_6_days.
aspx). National Museums Scotland. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original (http://www.n
ms.ac.uk/about_us/about_us/press_office/press_releases/2011/100,000_visitors_in_6_day
s.aspx) on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
83. "No. 36544" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36544/supplement/2566). The
London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1944. p. 2566.
84. "People of the century". P. 78. CBS News. Simon & Schuster, 1999
85. Santesmases, María Jesús (18 December 2017). The Circulation of Penicillin in Spain:
Health, Wealth and Authority (https://books.google.com/books?id=9ehDDwAAQBAJ&q=gra
n+cruz+alfonso+x+fleming&pg=PA41). Springer. p. 39. ISBN 978-3-319-69718-5. Retrieved
7 July 2020.
86. "Alexander Fleming – Time 100 People of the Century" (https://web.archive.org/web/200710
16213052/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,990612,00.html). Time. 29
March 1999. Archived from the original (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,9
90612,00.html) on 16 October 2007.
87. "Discovery and Development of Penicillin" (https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/wh
atischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html). International Historic Chemical Landmarks.
American Chemical Society. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
 88. "Great Britons – Top 100" (https://web.archive.org/web/20021204214727/http://www.bbc.co.
uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml/). BBC. Archived from the original (https://ww
w.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml/) on 4 December 2002. Retrieved
19 July 2017.
89. Lewine, Edward (2007). Death and the Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 123.
90. "Banknote designs mark Homecoming" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7828554.stm).
BBC News. 14 January 2008. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090125014009/htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7828554.stm) from the original on 25 January 2009.
Retrieved 20 January 2009.
91. "Robert Burns voted Greatest Scot" (https://web.archive.org/web/20181106204321/https://st
v.tv/news/scotland/141018-robert-burns-voted-greatest-scot/). STV Group. 30 November
2009. Archived from the original (https://stv.tv/news/scotland/141018-robert-burns-voted-gre
atest-scot/) on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
92. "Place name detail: Mount Fleming" (https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/3705). New Zealand
Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
93. Gaynes, Robert (2017). "The Discovery of Penicillin – New Insights After More Than 75
Years of Clinical Use" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403050). Emerging
Infectious Diseases. 23 (5): 849–853. doi:10.3201/eid2305.161556 (https://doi.org/10.320
1%2Feid2305.161556). PMC 5403050 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403
050).
94. Dufour, Héloïse D.; Carroll, Sean B. (2013). "History: Great myths die hard" (https://doi.org/1
0.1038%2F502032a). Nature. 502 (7469): 32–33. doi:10.1038/502032a (https://doi.org/10.1
038%2F502032a). PMID 24137644 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24137644).
95. Ho, David (29 March 1999). "Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming" (http://content.time.com/tim
e/magazine/article/0,9171,990612,00.html). Time. ISSN 0040-781X (https://search.worldcat.
org/issn/0040-781X). Retrieved 17 October 2020.
96. Selwyn, Sydney (1980). "Howard Florey: the making of a great scientist" (https://doi.org/10.1
099%2F00222615-13-3-483). Journal of Medical Microbiology. 13 (3): 483.
doi:10.1099/00222615-13-3-483 (https://doi.org/10.1099%2F00222615-13-3-483).
97. e.g., The Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 July 1945: Brown, Penicillin Man, note 43 to Chapter 2
98. 14 November 1945; British Library Additional Manuscripts 56115: Brown, Penicillin Man,
note 44 to Chapter 2
99. see Wikipedia Discovery of penicillin article entry for 1920
100. A History of May & Baker 1834–1984, Alden Press 1984.

Further reading
The Life Of Sir Alexander Fleming, Jonathan Cape, 1959. Maurois, André. (https://archive.or
g/stream/lifeofsiralexand000085mbp#page/n7/mode/2up)
Nobel Lectures, the Physiology or Medicine 1942–1962, Elsevier Publishing Company,
Amsterdam, 1964
An Outline History of Medicine. London: Butterworths, 1985. Rhodes, Philip.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
Press, 1996. Porter, Roy, ed.
Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution, Stroud, Sutton, 2004.
Brown, Kevin.
Alexander Fleming: The Man and the Myth, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.
Macfarlane, Gwyn
 Fleming, Discoverer of Penicillin, Ludovici, Laurence J., 1952
The Penicillin Man: the Story of Sir Alexander Fleming, Lutterworth Press, 1957, Rowland,
John.

External links
Alexander Fleming Obituary (https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/12/penicill
in-fleming-alexander-bacteriology)
Alexander Fleming (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/339) on Nobelprize.org including
the Nobel Lecture, 11 December 1945 Penicillin
Some places and memories related to Alexander Fleming (http://himetop.wikidot.com/alexan
der-fleming)
Newspaper clippings about Alexander Fleming (http://purl.org/pressemappe20/folder/pe/005
299) in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Fleming&oldid=1258001838"