Dumb-Luck of Penicillin

During the war of Germany, wounded soldiers were left suffering due to a lack of antibiotics that eliminated the infectious bacteria that entered their open skin. Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist working at St. Mary’s hospital in London during 1928, may have found the cure to these infectious bacterial diseases from accidental messiness. The discovery caused for intense research in Britain which soon came to a successful end. British scientists such as Fleming, Dr. Howard Florey, Norman Heatley, Andrew J. Moyer, and Ernst Chain shared their discoveries with one another. They began work in 1928 that lasted till 1941 to prove the medical possibilities of penicillin, from its first discovery, up to its development …show more content…
Florey and Ernst Chain saw medical potential in penicillin and decided to further their research. The two noticed that they were not able to “produce the quantities of penicillin needed for clinical trials on humans and and turned to the United States for help.” (Bellis 23-25). In 1941, Dr. Florey and Norman Heatley came to the U.S with a valuable package containing a small amount of penicillin to continue research after being referred to the Peoria Lab. By November of 1941, Andrew Moyer had succeeded in “increasing the yields of penicillin 10 times.” (Bellis 42) with the assistance of Dr. Heatley. The required clinical trials were performed and proved penicillin as the most effective antibacterial agent. They determined a way for penicillin to be safely administered to humans and used the drug on the war front, initially saving many lives. It was used in soldiers wounds on D-Day, allowing for it to kill off any infectious bacteria found. As the production increased, prices decreased, as it began “nearly priceless in 1940, to $20 per dose in July 1943, to $0.55 per dose by 1946.” (Bellis 47-49). The success of this drug allowed for Florey, Chain, and Fleming to be awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and Moyer being inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. Both British and Peoria Laboratories were “designated as International Historic Chemical Landmarks.” (Bellis 53-54). Despite contributions by other scientists to penicillin, “Fleming alone is credited with penicillin’s discovery.” (Connors, 50-51). This discovery and the events leading up to its development is what saved many lives during war