The contributions from Alexander Fleming He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945, along with his colleagues Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain. The origin of modern antibiotics hides a surprising history that would forever mark the scientific community.
It was the Scottish microbiologist and pharmacist Alexander Fleming who discovered almost accidentally the properties of a substance that we know today as penicillin, and that has saved millions of lives around the world.
Fleming in his laboratory.
Fleming left an important legacy in health matters throughout his career, so we will review some of his major contributions to science below.
Fleming's main contributions to science
Healing of war wounds
Between 1914 and 1918, Fleming was working with his mentor, Sir Almroth Wright, in a military hospital in Bolougne, France.
The Big war it left terrible consequences among the allied troops, and both looked for ways to obtain the recovery of the greater amount of men in a time where a simple wound could take them to the death.
Fleming focused on the functioning of the antiseptics used at that time. His research showed that these products worsened the conditions of the deepest wounds, damaging the cells responsible for defending the body against the bacteria that cause gangrene and tetanus.
Although the study was controversial and widely questioned, it was a crucial contribution to the treatment of patients in the subsequent wars.
Lysozyme as an antibacterial enzyme
In 1920, Fleming was observing the reaction of a culture of bacteria to which a drop of nasal discharge had fallen, that is: mucus.
The event, although hilarious, made him see that these bacteria had died right in the place where the drop fell.
Two years later he published formal research, where he discovers the uses of lysozyme to fight certain types of bacteria, without damaging human cells.
Today lysozyme is used in the treatment of oropharyngeal infections and certain viral diseases, as well as to stimulate some reactions of the organism and to contribute to the action of antibiotics or chemotherapy.
Although it is found in human fluids such as tears, mucus, hair and nails, it is currently extracted artificially from egg whites.
Penicillin: the most important antibiotic in history
One of the most famous fables in the history of science had its origin when Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1927. He had returned from a long vacation with his family to find his laboratory quite messy.
A staphylococcus culture was full of mold, but Fleming, instead of discarding it, wanted to observe it under his microscope. Surprisingly, the mold had eliminated all bacteria in its path.
A more thorough investigation allowed him to find the substance he called penicillin. This powerful element would become one of the first antibiotics effective against diseases that at that time could be deadly, such as scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis and gonorrhea.
His work was published in 1929 in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology.
Perfection of penicillin
Although Fleming had all the answers, he could not isolate the most important component, penicillin, from mold crops, let alone produce it in high concentrations.
It was not until 1940 when a team of biochemical experts in Oxford managed to come up with the correct molecular structure of penicillin: Ernst Boris Chain and Edward Abraham, under the tutelage of Howard Florey.
Later, another scientist named Norman Heatey proposed the technique that would allow to purify and produce the substance en masse.
After many clinical and manufacturing tests, penicillin was commercially available in 1945.
Fleming was always modest in his role in this story, giving more credit to his colleagues Nobel Prize, Chain and Florey; nevertheless, it is more than clear his immense contribution for the investigation.
Resistance to antibiotics
Long before any other scientist, Alexander Fleming had come up with the idea that the incorrect use of antibiotics has counterproductive effects on the organism, causing the bacteria to become increasingly resistant to medication.
After the commercialization of penicillin, the microbiologist devoted himself to highlight in multiple speeches and lectures that the antibiotic should not be consumed unless it is really necessary, and that if it is done, the dose should not be very light, nor should it be taken in a too short period.
This incorrect use of the drug only allows the bacteria that cause the disease to become stronger, worsening the patients' condition and making it difficult to recover.
Fleming could not be more right, and in fact, today this is still one of the lessons that doctors tend to emphasize more.
References
- Biography.com Editors. (2017). Alexander Fleming Biography.com.: A & E Television Networks. Recovered from biography.com
- Unknown author. (2009). Alexander Fleming (1881-1955). Edinburgh, Scotland.: National Library of Scotland. Retrieved from digital.nls.uk
- IQB writing team. (2010). LISOZIMA. Buenos Aires, Argentina.: Collaborating Center of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology -ANMAT-. Recovered from iqb.es
- The Doc. (2015). Alexander Fleming.: Famous Scientists. Retrieved from famousscientists.org
- Alexander Fleming. (Without date). In Wikipedia. Retrieved on December 10, 2017 from en.wikipedia.org
- Alexander Fleming (1881-1955): A noble life in science. (Undated) In British Library. Retrieved on December 10, 2017 from bl.uk