Fleming Nobel Prize. Alexander Fleming - biography, photo, personal life of a biologist

Alexandra Fleming was born on August 6, 1881 in Lochfield, on a farm near Darwell in Ayrshire, Scotland. Fleming was the third of four children of Hugh Fleming and Grace Stirling Morton. Alexander lost his father at the age of 7.

Education

Fleming was educated at Loudon Moore School and Darvel School. For two years he has been working hard to get into Kilmarnock Academy. After graduating from secondary education, Fleming went to London, where he entered the Royal Polytechnic Institute.

For 4 years, Fleming serves in the Navy, after which he receives an inheritance left to him by his uncle.

Following the advice of his older brother, Tom, a physicist by profession, Alexander begins his studies in science. In 1903, he settled in the hospital of St. Mary, where in 1906 he received a qualification that allowed him to engage in surgical practice.

Military career

At one time, Alexander was an honorary member of the shooting club. Since 1900, he has been actively involved in a group of volunteers, consisting of civilians who were trained in shooting from rifles and large-caliber weapons, as well as in the field of pathological anatomy. This group gained great popularity in the middle of the 19th century, and many members of the volunteer associations included in it entered the service of the British army. The head of the shooting club insists that Fleming remain on the team, and he joins the research group at St. Mary's Hospital, where he later becomes a student of Sir Almroth Wright, one of the pioneers of vaccination and immunology. In this area of ​​medicine, Fleming soon occupies a worthy place, having received a bachelor's degree in medicine, and after, in 1908, defending with a gold medal and a bachelor's degree in science. After that, Fleming remained a teacher at St. Mary's Hospital, where he worked until 1914.

This year, Fleming is called to the First world war, where, as the captain of a group of military pathologists in the Royal Army, he receives an award for bravery. Fleming will go through the whole war to the end. Together with colleagues, he serves in field hospitals on the Western Front in France. Only in 1918 did he return to St. Mary's Hospital, which by that time had become a teaching hospital. In 1928 Fleming became professor of bacteriology.

Research work on penicillin

The war had big influence Fleming's scientific views. Having witnessed the countless deaths of soldiers, Fleming directs all his efforts to the study of antibacterial agents, setting the goal of creating a medicine that can defeat infections and heal wounds. The idea of ​​creating a simple antiseptic that in no way affects the rapid spread of bacterial contamination, but instead reduces protective functions suffering body, Fleming is not attracted. In his World War I article in the medical journal The Lancet, Fleming popularly describes the harmful nature of antiseptics, recounting an experiment he conducted that clearly demonstrates why antiseptic deaths during the war outnumber combat deaths. The scientist proves to the world that antiseptics are good only for caring for superficial wounds, but are not applicable for deep wounds. Fleming's thorough research on the uselessness of antiseptics in the treatment of deep wounds is actively supported by Sir Almroth Wright. But, despite the results of these works, some doctors continue to use these drugs in the treatment of the wounded in the war, which only worsens their condition.

Thanks to their scientific research, Fleming becomes widely known. By 1928, he began to study the properties of bacteria of the staphylococcal family. At this point, the scientist has already earned himself the name of an outstanding researcher. According to eyewitnesses, Fleming never kept order in his laboratory. On September 3, 1928, returning from a vacation that lasted a whole month, he suddenly discovers that staphylococci (carelessly thrown by him on the bench at the very beginning of the vacation) are affected by fungal formations. Fleming astutely notes that colonies of bacteria that were in close proximity to the affected microorganisms died, while those that were at a distance remained in a normal state. Fleming shows the affected bacteria to his former assistant Merlin Price, who confirms that Fleming, quite by accident, managed to get lysozyme. Therefore, the scientist decides to grow mold in pure form, and thus releases an element that kills a number of pathogenic bacteria. The resulting mold belongs to the penicillin group. In a couple of months, on March 7, 1929, he will call the substance he isolated "penicillin". Fleming conducts in-depth research on the positive properties of the drug (its antibacterial effect) and finds that it affects a number of bacteria - such as staphylococcus and other gram-positive pathogens that cause scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis and diphtheria. In 1929, he publishes the results of his work in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology, but much attention scientific world the article is not appealing.

In the course of his work, Fleming encountered difficulties in isolating and collecting penicillin, associated with the problems of complete isolation of the antibiotic agent. The scientist continues research, but comes to the conclusion that the drug has too slow an effect in order to play an important role in the treatment of infections. Along with this, his confidence is growing that penicillin will not be able to have a lasting effect on the human body for effective fight with bacteria. Therefore, some of Fleming's research remains incomplete. But in the 1930s. Fleming's research is already taking a more confident shape. Until the very beginning of the 1940s. he is trying to draw the attention of chemists to the need to further improve the form of penicillin suitable for use.

After a few years, Fleming quits his work on the drug. However, very soon, scientists Flory and Chain from the Radcliffe Hospital at the University of Oxford resume research and, with the support of American and British funds, successfully obtain a stable form of penicillin. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, which took place on December 7, 1941, gives impetus to the mass production of this drug by the hospital, which will be used in the treatment of the wounded of all allied armies.

Personal life

December 23, 1915 Fleming marries an experienced nurse, Sarah Marion McElroy. In 1949 she dies, leaving Alexander their only son, Robert Fleming, who later became a general practitioner. On April 9, 1953, Alexander Fleming marries again, this time with Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, his Greek colleague at St. Mary's Hospital, a scientist with whom he was associated throughout his life.

Awards and honors

Fleming's accidental but obvious discovery of penicillin turned the world of medicine upside down. The birth of antibiotics and modern medicine opened up a great future for the successful treatment of millions of people around the world. In 1944, Fleming, along with his colleague Flory, was knighted. In 1945, together with Flory and Chain, he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The Royal College of Physicians of England honored Fleming with the title of honorary member of the London Hunterian Society.

Death

Fleming died in 1955, in his own home, from a heart attack. A week after death, the body was cremated and the ashes were buried in St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

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If you ask any educated person about who discovered penicillin, then in response you can hear the name Fleming. But if you look into Soviet encyclopedias published before the fifties of the last century, you will not find this name there. Instead of a British microbiologist, the fact is mentioned that the Russian doctors Polotebnov and Manassein were the first to pay attention to the healing effect of mold. It was true, it was these scientists who, back in 1871, noticed that glaucum suppressed the reproduction of many bacteria. So who really discovered penicillin?

Fleming

Indeed, the question of who and how discovered penicillin requires a more detailed study. Before Fleming, and even before these Russian doctors, Paracelsus and Avicenna knew about the properties of penicillin. But they could not isolate the substance that gives the mold healing powers. Only the microbiologist of St. Mary, that is, Fleming. And the scientist tested the antibacterial properties of the open substance on his assistant, who fell ill with sinusitis. The doctor injected a small dose of penicillin into the maxillary cavity, and already three hours later the patient's condition improved significantly. So, Fleming discovered penicillin, which he announced on September 13, 1929 in his report. This date is considered the birthday of antibiotics, but they began to be used later.

Research continues

The reader already knows who discovered penicillin, but it is worth noting that it was impossible to use the remedy - it had to be cleaned. During the purification process, the formula became unstable, the substance lost its properties very quickly. And only a group of scientists from Oxford University coped with this task. Alexander Fleming was delighted.

But here I stood before pundits new task: the mold grew very slowly, so Alexander decided to try a different kind of it, discovering along the way the penicillase enzyme, a substance that can neutralize penicillin produced by bacteria.

USA vs England

The one who discovered penicillin could not start mass production of the drug in his homeland. But his assistants, Flory and Heatley, moved to the United States in 1941. There they received support and generous funding, but the work itself was strictly classified.

Penicillin in the USSR

In all biology textbooks they write about how they discovered penicillin. But nowhere you will read about how the drug began to be produced in the Soviet Union. True, there is a legend that the substance was needed to treat General Vatutin, but Stalin forbade the use of an overseas drug. In order to master production as soon as possible, it was decided to buy technology. They even sent a delegation to the US Embassy. The Americans agreed, but during the negotiations they raised the cost three times and estimated their knowledge at thirty million dollars.

Refusing, the USSR did what the British did: they launched a duck that the domestic microbiologist Zinaida Yermolyeva produced crustosin. This drug was an improved one that was stolen by capitalist spies. It was a fiction of pure water, but the woman really set up the production of the drug in her country, however, its quality turned out to be worse. Therefore, the authorities resorted to a trick: they bought the secret from Ernst Chain (one of Fleming's assistants) and began to produce the same penicillin as in America, and crustosin was forgotten. So, as it turns out, there is no answer to the question of who discovered penicillin in the USSR.

Disappointment

The power of penicillin, which was so highly regarded by the medical luminaries of the time, turned out to be not so powerful. As it turned out, over time, the microorganisms that cause diseases become immune to this drug. Instead of thinking about an alternative solution, scientists began to invent other antibiotics. But to deceive microbes fails to this day.

Recently, the WHO announced that Fleming warned against the overuse of antibiotics, which can lead to the fact that drugs can not help with fairly simple diseases, since they will no longer be able to harm microbes. And to find a solution to this problem is already the task of other generations of doctors. And you need to look for it now.

Alexander Fleming- wonderful, who was born in 1881 in Scotland. AT world history he came in as the man who discovered penicillin. Fleming was educated at the school, which was located at St. Mary's Hospital in London. His passion was research in the field of immunology. When the first shots were fired in Europe, Fleming went to the front to work as a military doctor.

Here he noticed that the antiseptics existing at that time for the most part destroy the cells of the human body, rather than affect the microbes that have fallen into the wound. The doctor decides that humanity needs stronger antiseptics that act purposefully against microbes without destroying useful cells. The war is over, workdays have come, it's time for research. Alexander returned to London, where he works at St. Mary's Hospital.

In 1922, the doctor discovered a substance that he named "Lysozyme". The resulting substance destroyed some microbes, but could not cope with the most dangerous pest for humans. Fleming continued his search, six years later, Alexander achieved significant success. Watching the staphylococcus bacterium, I noticed that it was covered with mold. Where the bacterium was only surrounded by mold, it decomposed. The scientist concluded that the mold releases a certain substance that is a poison for a harmful bacterium. He continued his research. As a result, it turned out that the mold does indeed contain a substance that kills bacteria, but is completely harmless to humans and animals. The scientist named this substance penicillin. The discovery of the scientist was published a year later. Penicillin has not yet been widely used in medicine. Even the scientist himself did not yet really know how to get pure penicillin.

For more than ten years, the drug did not find application in medicine. In the late 1930s, two British scientists, Flory and Chain, became aware of Fleming's research. The scientists decided to verify the colleague's research. Their experiments were successful, and scientists even managed to learn how to get penicillin. Then they tested the resulting medicine on animals, the experiments were positive. In 1941, the drug was tested on humans. The UK and US governments have allocated money for new research on a promising drug.

Scientists have learned how to get penicillin in large quantities. At first, the medicine was used only in the army. But when the war ended, the inhabitants got the opportunity to use penicillin. Penicillin has found wide application in everything. The discovery of penicillin was a breakthrough in medicine. Scientists were inspired by the development of science, and continued new searches. So new antibiotics and other medicines appeared that saved the lives of millions of people. Penicillin has wide range application and successfully fights a huge number of diseases. Fleming received the Nobel Prize in 1945, which he shared with Cheyne and Flory. The scientist died in 1955.

“The researcher should be free to go in the direction that a new discovery calls him ... - wrote Fleming. Every researcher needs to have some free time in order to realize his plans without dedicating anyone to them (unless he himself wishes it). During these free hours, discoveries of paramount importance can be made.

Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming was born on August 6, 1881 in East Ayrshire to farmer Hugh Fleming and his second wife Grace (Morton) Fleming.

He was the seventh child of his father and the third of his mother. When the boy was seven years old, his father died, and his mother had to manage the farm herself. Her assistant was Fleming's older brother on his father's side, Thomas. Alexander attended a small rural school located nearby, and later Kilmarnock Academy. The boy early learned to carefully observe nature. At the age of thirteen, he followed his older brothers to London, where he worked as a clerk, attended classes at the Polytechnic Institute in Regent Street. In 1900 he joined the London Scottish Regiment. Fleming enjoyed military service and earned a reputation as a top-notch marksman and water polo player. By that time, the Boer War had already ended, and Fleming did not have a chance to serve in overseas countries.

Having received a certificate of secondary education, he could enter any medical school. “There are twelve such schools in London,” he later wrote, “and I lived at about the same distance from three of them. I knew nothing about any of these schools, but as part of the water polo team of the London Scottish Regiment, I once played against the students of St. Mary; and I went to St. Mary's."

Alexander studied surgery and, having passed the exams, in 1906 became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. The St. Mary's newspaper wrote: "Mr. Fleming, recently awarded a gold medal, and seemingly effortlessly won the title of Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, is one of Sir Almroth Wright's most devoted pupils, and we think he has a glorious future ahead of him." ".

Working in the pathology laboratory of Professor Almroth Wright at St. Mary's Hospital, he received his MA and BSc from the University of London in 1908.

At that time, doctors and bacteriologists believed that further progress would be associated with attempts to change, strengthen or supplement the properties of the immune system. The discovery in 1910 of salvarsan by Paul Ehrlich only confirmed these assumptions.

Wright's lab was one of the first to receive salvarsan samples for testing. In 1908, Fleming began experimenting with the drug, also using it in private medical practice to treat syphilis. Well aware of all the problems associated with salvarsan, he nevertheless believed in the possibilities of chemotherapy. For several years, however, the results of the studies were such that they could hardly confirm his assumptions.

One of Fleming's colleagues, Freeman, recalled of him: “We were all very attached to Flem. He was a reserved man, but affable. He answered in monosyllables and, as soon as others joined in the conversation, fell silent. We said that he is a typical Scot and that he does not talk, but grumbles. Of course, this is not entirely true. It was our "family" joke."

After Britain entered the First World War, Fleming served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps and saw action in France.

On December 23, 1915, he married the head nurse, Sarah Marion McElroy, of Irish descent. She ran a private clinic in London. Nine years later, their son Robert was born. Sarah surprisingly managed to discern a hidden genius in this extremely modest and quiet man and was imbued with great respect for him. "Alec is a great man," she said, "but no one knows that."

Meanwhile, while working in the wound research lab, Fleming and Wright were trying to determine if antiseptics were of any benefit in treating infected lesions. Fleming showed that antiseptics such as carbolic acid, then widely used to treat open wounds, kill white blood cells that form a protective barrier in the body, which helps bacteria survive in tissues.

In 1922, after unsuccessful attempts to isolate the causative agent of common colds, Fleming accidentally discovered lysozyme, an enzyme that kills some bacteria and does not harm healthy tissues. Unfortunately, prospects medical use lysozyme proved to be rather limited, as it was highly effective against non-causative bacteria and completely ineffective against disease-causing organisms. This discovery, however, prompted Fleming to look for other antibacterial drugs that would be harmless to the human body.

Another happy accident - the discovery of penicillin by Fleming in 1928) "was the result of a combination of circumstances so incredible that it is almost impossible to believe in them. Unlike his careful colleagues, who cleaned dishes with bacterial cultures after finishing work with them, Fleming did not throw away cultures for 2-3 weeks in a row, until his laboratory bench was cluttered with 40 or 50 dishes, then he would start cleaning, going through the cultures one by one, so as not to miss anything interesting.In one of the dishes, he found mold, which, to to his surprise, inhibited the sown culture of bacteria.After separating the mold, he found that "the broth on which the mold grew ... acquired a distinct ability to inhibit the growth of microorganisms, as well as bactericidal and bacteriological properties."

Fleming's slovenliness and his observation were just two of the many accidents that contributed to the discovery. The mold with which the culture turned out to be infected was very rare species. It probably came from a laboratory downstairs, where mold samples taken from the homes of asthma patients were grown in order to make desensitizing extracts from them. Fleming left the cup that later became famous on the laboratory table and went to rest. The cold snap in London created favorable conditions for the growth of mold, and the subsequent warming for bacteria. As it turned out later, the famous discovery was due to the coincidence of these circumstances.

An accident is an accident, but “it struck me,” says Fleming’s colleague Melvin Price, “that he did not limit himself to observations, but immediately began to act. Many, having discovered some phenomenon, feel that it can be significant, but are only surprised and soon forget about it. Fleming was not like that. I remember another case when I was still working with him. I never managed to get one culture, and he persuaded me that we must benefit from failures and mistakes. This is characteristic of his attitude to life.

Fleming's initial research yielded a number important information about penicillin. He wrote that it is "an effective antibacterial substance ... having a pronounced effect on pyogenic cocci ... and diphtheria bacilli ... Penicillin, even in large doses, is not toxic to animals ... It can be assumed that it will be an effective antiseptic for external treatment of areas affected by microbes sensitive to penicillin, or when it is administered orally.

For practical use it was necessary to isolate penicillin. Fleming understood this well, but he himself could not carry out this task. For help, he repeatedly turned to other scientists. For example, he asked G. Berry, professor of pharmacology, to take up the extraction of penicillin. “Unfortunately, this professor writes, and I regret it all my life, I did not make this attempt and did not understand why he attaches such great importance to this ... I remember very well our conversation with him. He was absolutely convinced that his discovery had a great future. I remember how he then predicted that if this substance was obtained in its pure form, it could be introduced into the human body.

It was possible to isolate penicillin, purify it and use it for the treatment of common infections by the Australian G. Flory and the graduate of the University of Berlin E.B. Chain. Fleming went to Oxford to see these scientists. Cheyne was very surprised at him, he thought that Fleming had died a long time ago. “He impressed me as a man who must not be able to express his feelings, but in him - although he did his best to appear cold and indifferent - a warm heart was guessed,” Cheyne said. Fleming tried to hide his feelings. He only said to Cheyne: "You managed to process my substance." Craddock, who saw Fleming after his return, remembers what he said about the Oxford Group: "These are the learned chemists I dreamed of working with in 1929."

On October 25, 1945, Fleming received a telegram from Stockholm informing him that he, Flory, and Chain had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effects in various infectious diseases." The scientific council of the Nobel Prizes first proposed that half of the prize should be given to Fleming and the other half to Flory and Chain. But general advice decided that it would be more fair to divide it equally among the three scientists. On December 6, Fleming flew to Stockholm.

G. Liliestrand of the Karolinska Institute said in his welcoming speech: “The history of penicillin is well known throughout the world. It is an excellent example of the joint application of various scientific methods in the name of the great common purpose and once again shows us the enduring value fundamental research". In his Nobel lecture, Fleming noted that "the phenomenal success of penicillin has led to intensive study of the antibacterial properties of molds and other lower representatives flora". Only a few of them, he said, have such properties. There is, however, streptomycin discovered by Waksman... which will certainly find application in practical medicine; there will be other substances that have yet to be studied.”

Fleming wrote to John Cameron: “Arrived in Stockholm at 10 pm. Went to sleep. At 8 am departure to Uppsala. Return at night. The next day official visits, with a short respite for shopping. (You can buy as many Parker pens and nylon stockings as you like in Stockholm.) Then I dined with our ambassador (now I'm getting used to it). Tomorrow is the Nobel Prize. Tail coat and orders. (With great difficulty I managed to tie the Order of the Legion of Honor around my neck, and I limited myself to this order alone.) At 4.30 pm, to the sound of fanfare and trumpets, we were taken to the stage, where all the The Royal Family. Orchestra, singing, speeches, and we received our awards from the hands of the king ... Then a banquet for 700 people. I was sitting next to crown princess. We all had to say a few words (I was talking about luck), and after the banquet the student choir and dancing. Home at 3 am. The next day - a conference and dinner with the king, in the palace. We could have gone to bed early, but when we got back to the hotel, we all went to the bar and drank Swedish beer for a long time. We had one Argentine poetess with us, she also received the Nobel Prize, but she doesn’t know how to drink at all.”

Another difference made Fleming very happy: he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Darvel, a small Scottish town where he studied at school. The mayor and councilors, as well as reporters and cameramen, met Fleming at the gates of the city. “Prayers. Speeches. Endless autographs. Many people came to report that they studied with me at school ... "

In the remaining ten years of his life, the scientist was awarded 25 honorary degrees, 26 medals, 18 prizes, 13 awards and honorary membership in 89 academies of sciences and scientific societies, and in 1954 a title of nobility.

After the death of his wife in 1949, Fleming's health deteriorated rapidly. In 1952 he married Amalia Koutsouris Vureka, a bacteriologist and former student of his. Three years later, on March 11, 1955, he died of a myocardial infarction.

The mess in Fleming's laboratory served him once more. In 1928, he discovered that on agar in one of the Petri dishes with bacteria Staphylococcus aureus a colony of fungi has grown. Colonies of bacteria around the molds became transparent due to cell destruction. Fleming managed to isolate the active substance that destroys bacterial cells - penicillin, the work was published in 1929.

Fleming underestimated his discovery, believing that it would be very difficult to obtain a cure. His work was continued by Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain, who developed methods for purifying penicillin. Mass production of penicillin was established during World War II.

In 1999, Time magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 important people XX century for his discovery of penicillin and reported:

“This discovery will change the course of history. The substance that Fleming called penicillin is a very active anti-infective agent.

After opportunities this compound were appreciated, penicillin has become an integral part of any method of treating bacterial infections. By the middle of the century, the substance discovered by Fleming was widely included in the production of pharmaceuticals, its artificial synthesis began to be carried out, which helped to cope with most of the most ancient diseases, such as syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.

Early years, education

Fleming was born on August 6, 1881 in Lochfield, Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the third of four children by farmer Hugh Fleming's (1816-1888) second wife, Grace Stirling Morton (1848-1928), daughter of a neighboring farmer. Hug Fleming also had four more children from his first marriage. The second time he married at 59 years old, and died when Alexander (known as Alek) was only 7 years old.

His elder brother Thomas was already working as an ophthalmologist and following his example, Alexander also decided to study medicine. His choice of medical school was largely influenced by his participation in a water polo match with students from St. Mary's Hospital. At medical school, Fleming won a scholarship in 1901. He also received MB and BS scholarships from the University of London in 1906.

At the time, he did not have a strong affinity for any particular area of ​​medical practice. Works on surgery showed that he could be an outstanding surgeon. But life directed him along a different path, connected with "laboratory medicine". As a student, he came under the influence of pathology professor Almroth Wright, who came to St. Mary's Hospital in 1902. He, while still in the Military Medical Service, successfully developed a vaccination against typhoid fever. But Wright had other ideas as well, aimed at stimulating patients already suffering from bacterial infections in order to elicit an immediate response to these infections by activating "antibodies". He tried to measure the amount of these antibodies in the patient's blood. This required new methods and considerable labor. The group of young men who had joined Wright, including John Freeman, Bernard Spilsbury and John Wells, were no longer able to handle the job. Therefore, Fleming was invited to join the team as soon as he received degree in 1906.

Having thus entered the first research laboratory attached to the hospital, Fleming remained there until his death fifty years later. In 1946 he became director of the Institute. Fleming acquired worldwide fame as the discoverer of penicillin. During the First World War, Fleming served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He and many of his colleagues worked in battlefield hospitals on the western front in France. In 1918, Fleming returned to St. Mary's Hospital, where he was elected professor of bacteriology in 1928.

Research before penicillin

During his research period, Fleming made a significant contribution to the development of medicine, because, like his boss Wright, he was constantly trying to learn something new. The first of these, as well as some subsequent contributions, was in the field of technical methods. Wright proposed many unusual micromeasurements using capillary tubes, glass, rubber nipples, and mercury calibration. Fleming quickly noticed that they could help in the diagnosis of syphilis, which was developed by Wassermann and some other scientists in Germany. His techniques made it possible to test with 0.5 ml of the patient's blood taken from a finger, instead of 5 ml, which previously had to be taken from a vein.

Very soon there were other technical difficulties associated with the development of methods for the treatment of syphilis. Wright was very interested in Ehrlich's discovery of healing properties Dioxydiaminoarsenobenzine dihydrochloride, better known as "Salvarsan" or "606". The injection had to be administered into a vein, and at that time there were some difficulties associated with this. Fleming succeeded in this work, and in one of the first reports published in English, he spoke about the technique and the results obtained as a result of working with 46 patients.

During the First World War, Fleming immediately joined in solving many of the problems that arose. It became apparent that bacterial infection in deep wounds from explosives would destroy a great many lives and deprive a huge number of people of their limbs. Wright was approached to set up a laboratory to study these infections in France, and he took Fleming with him in the rank of captain, R.A.M.C. This laboratory turned out to be the first wartime medical research laboratory, it was set up in a casino in Boulogne.

Fleming's first report in early 1915 spoke of the presence in wounds of a large number of microbial species, some of which were still completely unfamiliar to most bacteriologists at the time, and he also pointed out that streptococci predominated in the most serious wounds. It turned out that many of the wound infections were caused by microbes present on fragments of clothing and dirt that had penetrated deep into the tissues with the projectile.

Observation of wounds also led to another important conclusion, that the use of antiseptics for several hours after an injury does not completely eliminate bacterial infections, although many surgeons believed so. Wright was not at all surprised by this, but he and Fleming had to spend many months of hard work researching this issue in order to convince surgeons that the latter were on the wrong track.

They came to the conclusion (Wright and Fleming) that two factors led to failure: firstly, antiseptics did not reach all microbes, because very often the latter penetrated deep into the tissue of bones, cartilage, muscles, etc., and, in - secondly, the antibacterial activity of the solution used very quickly decreased when interacting with protein and cellular elements of lymph, pus, blood and tissues surrounding the wound; the solution, thus, destroyed the leukocytes of patients who, in vivo are a very effective defense mechanism.

The work on which these two most important conclusions are based was almost entirely Wright's, but Fleming, who assisted in the work, made valuable technical contributions. It was he who conducted experiments with an "artificial wound", from which it became obvious that antiseptics could not reach the deep areas of the wounds and lead to the death of microbes there.

Another simple device that Fleming was able to adapt (with due credit to its author, Dr. Beatty) for the study of antiseptics was the coating of liquid cultures of suitable gas-forming organisms with molten petroleum jelly. Growth of the cultures resulted in the formation of gases and the rise of vaseline in the column, the change in volume gave a rough indication of the growth of the cultures. Using this method, it was easy to demonstrate that the activity of many antiseptics was significantly reduced in proteinaceous fluids such as blood serum, and it was also surprising that at certain concentrations of antiseptics (including carbolic acid, iodine, hypochlorous acid, sodium hypochlorite and chloramine-T) bacterial growth even increased. (Using the same device, Fleming was also able to demonstrate that Clostridium, which causes gangrene disease, produced a much more abundant culture when grown in association with aerobic wound organisms such as staphylococci and streptococci.)

Another aspect of the "antiseptic problem" was brought to light when Wright and Fleming turned their attention to the antibacterial effect of white blood cells in an infected wound. They found that, under favorable conditions, pus and blood leukocytes could destroy a very large number of staphylococci and streptococci, and under the influence of antiseptics, this effect often decreased. In this situation, Fleming's ingenious penchant for simple devices again did not fail: first he applied a glass plate to the wound, and then immediately applied nutrient medium Agar-agar. He made several such experiments on a wound with varying degrees of antiseptic flushing and noticed that bacterial growth was more abundant in later cultures. Apparently antiseptics killed white blood cells, which are so necessary to prevent the reproduction of microbes.

Convincing experimental confirmation of Fleming's conclusions was carried out by him after the war using the "slide cell" technique. The technique made it easy to show that when microbes enter the blood, leukocytes have a very strong bactericidal effect, and when antiseptics are added, the effect is significantly reduced or completely eliminated.

Fleming's research on wound infections was described in his Hunterian Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1919, and in his communication "Comparison of the activity of antiseptics on bacteria and leukocytes" to the Royal Society in 1924.

Fleming and Wright's long reflections on the physiological mechanisms of wound protection in the event of infection led them in 1922 to the discovery of a microbe-dissolving enzyme contained in nasal secretions, which he called "lysozyme". In a sense, this discovery was twofold: the substance was a lytic agent, and, as it turned out, many microbes were sensitive to its action.

At the Royal Society, Fleming described how he isolated daily cultures from a patient's nasal secretions (actually his own) during a "cold." Almost nothing appeared for the first four days, but on the last day a "large number of small colonies appeared, which turned out to be Gram-positive cocci, which distributed irregularly, but with a tendency to a diplococcal and tetrad formation." With the help of Wright, he subsequently managed to discover a microbe that was previously unknown, and named it Micrococcus Lysodeicticus(i.e. soluble).

It is still not entirely clear what led Fleming to investigate nasal mucus and discover a substance that has a powerful lytic effect on microbes. Probably, in some areas of the plate, where mucus particles were present, the growth of micrococcus was suppressed or prevented. In any case, he apparently suspected it, and his suspicion was confirmed when he prepared a suspension of microbes from a fresh culture and added a drop of dilute nasal mucus to it. To his surprise, the suspension became completely clear after only a minute or two.

Subsequent experiments showed that a similar microbial dissolution effect could be demonstrated with human tears, sputum, saliva, extracts of many tissues of the human body, as well as with egg white and other animal and plant tissues.

Surprisingly, no other microbe dissolved as well as Micrococcus Lysodeicticus, although many other microbes that cause human disease have also been affected, but only to a lesser extent. The very important conclusion was made that the enzyme lysozyme can be obtained from human leukocytes. The bactericidal action of white blood cells derived from human blood, which Wright and Fleming demonstrated during the war, may have been due to the action of this enzyme.

On the whole, the discovery of lysozyme may not have been a huge intellectual feat, but it must be remembered that hundreds of bacteriologists around the world have been studying nasal secretions for many years in the hope of finding the organisms responsible for the "cold", but none of them have been able to discover this enzyme. Fleming also failed to find the cause of the common cold, but the discovery of lysozyme was undoubtedly an important milestone in the development of immunology.

accidental discovery

"When I woke up at dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly did not plan to revolutionize medicine with my discovery of the world's first antibiotic or killer bacterium," then Fleming said, "But I believe that is exactly what I did."

By 1928, Fleming was researching the properties of staphylococci. He was already known for his early work and gained a reputation as a brilliant researcher, but his laboratory was often unkempt. On September 3, 1928, Fleming returned to his laboratory after spending August with his family. Before leaving, he collected all his staph cultures on a bench in the corner of his laboratory. Upon returning, Fleming noticed that molds had appeared on one of the culture plates, and that the staphylococcus colonies present there were destroyed, while the other colonies were normal. Fleming showed the fungus-contaminated cultures to his former assistant, Merlin Price, who said, "That's how you discovered lysozyme." Fleming attributed the fungi that grew on the plate with his cultures to the genus Penicillaceae, and, a few months later, on March 7, 1929, he named the isolated substance penicillin.

Fleming investigated the beneficial antibacterial effects of penicillin on a variety of organisms, and observed that it worked against bacteria such as staphylococci and many other gram-positive pathogens that cause scarlet fever, pneumonia, meningitis, and diphtheria, but did not cure diseases such as typhoid fever or paratyphoid, caused by gram-negative bacteria, for which he was also trying to treat at the time. It also acts on Neisseria gonorrhea, which causes gonorrhea, although these bacteria are Gram-negative.

Fleming was not a chemist, so he was not able to extract and purify the active substance. Therefore, he could not use penicillin as a therapeutic agent, but the thought of this did not leave his head. He wrote:

“Penicillin, when interacting with sensitive microbes, has some advantages over known chemical antiseptics. good sample will completely destroy staphylococci, streptococci pyogenes and pneumococci even at a dilution of 1 to 800. It is a more powerful inhibitory agent than carbolic acid and can be applied to contaminated surfaces and undiluted without causing irritation and intoxication. Even when diluted 800 times, it has a stronger effect than other antiseptics. Experiments related to the treatment of purulent infections have confirmed that this discovery has indeed led to progress in medicine.

The last of the mentioned experiments is not described. It should be noted that at this time Fleming had in mind only the topical application of penicillin, he could not imagine that (quote Flory) "It can circulate in the blood and body fluids in sufficient quantities to destroy sensitive bacteria in combination with natural protecting the body without harming other tissues."

Before moving on to other topics, Fleming showed how even a raw penicillin-containing filtrate could be used in bacteriology as a means of inhibiting the growth of unwanted microbes in certain cultures, such as isolation from B-pyrthus in whooping cough.

Fleming published his discovery in 1929 in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology, but his paper received little attention. Fleming continued his research, but found that penicillium was very difficult to work with, and that once the mold had grown, it became even more difficult to isolate the antibiotic from the agent. Fleming's production of penicillin turned out to be rather slow, and he was afraid that for this reason penicillin would not have importance in the treatment of infection. Fleming also became convinced that penicillin cannot exist in the human body (under natural conditions) long enough to be able to effectively kill bacteria. Many clinical trials failed, probably because penicillin was used as a surface antiseptic. Until the 1940s, Fleming continued his experiments, trying to develop a method for the rapid isolation of penicillin, which could be used in the future for larger-scale use of penicillin.

Shortly after Fleming stopped working with penicillin, Flory and Chain continued to research and mass-produce it at the expense of the US and British governments. After some time, they still managed to produce enough penicillin to treat all the wounded.

Purification and stabilization

An attempt to purify and isolate penicillin was made by Cheyne and Flory at Oxford in 1940. By extraction with ether, they managed to isolate a sufficiently pure material for preliminary tests of its antibacterial efficacy on laboratory animals infected with virulent staphylococci, streptococci, and clostridium septics, respectively. (Later it turned out that the composition used in these studies contained only about 1% penicillin.) The experiments were surprisingly successful, and the scientists encouraged Flory and his team to participate in the development of extraction methods. The ether solution was replaced with amyl acetate followed by acidification. In this way, more stable samples of penicillin were obtained, and unnecessary impurities were removed.

Fleming's conclusions about the non-toxicity of penicillin for laboratory animals and human leukocytes were confirmed and expanded, and already in 1941 positive results were obtained in the treatment of several severe human infections. Other satisfactory results immediately followed with this antibiotic, and thus penicillin was destined to occupy a unique place among the effective remedies for human diseases. Osteomyelitis and staphylococcal septicemia, puerperal fever and other invasive streptococcal infections, pneumonia, infections of wounds and burns, gas gangrene, syphilis and gonorrhea - the treatment of all these diseases has been very successful. By 1944, thanks to the enormous efforts of American manufacturers and research groups, it became possible to treat every wounded at the front with penicillin. When the war ended, the supplies were sufficient to treat the population of that country and North America. In the post-war years, it was found that even bacterial endocarditis, previously thought to be fatal in almost 100% of patients, can often be cured with large doses.

Fleming was modest about his involvement in the development of penicillin, describing his fame as "The Fleming Myth". He was the first to discover the active properties of the substance, which gave him the privilege of naming it: penicillin. He also stored, cultivated and distributed the original mold for twelve years, and continued to do so until 1940, trying to get help from any chemist who had the skills to isolate penicillin from it. Sir Henry Harris said in 1998: “Without Fleming, there would be no Cheyne; without Cheyne there would be no Flory; without Flory there would be no Heatley; without Heatley there would be no penicillin.

All these discoveries were made thanks to the efforts of Fleming on the one hand in 1928-1929, Cheyne and Flory and their colleagues on the other hand in 1940-1943. It has been noted that Fleming's work with penicillium stood on a par with other earlier work on the Continent. In one of them, Waudremer of the Pasteur Institute in Paris reported that with prolonged contact with mold Aspergillus fumigatus tuberculosis bacillus infection was dying and, based on this observation, he tried to treat more than 200 patients suffering from tuberculosis. But the experience was completely fruitless. Similar experiments were carried out with other forms of mold and bacteria. It is clear that antagonism between different microbiological genera and species has been "in the air" for several years, and Fleming himself recognized this in his Nobel lecture in 1945.

It is also clear that Fleming's work brought into the world a new substance that was found to be non-toxic to animal tissues and to human white blood cells. Everything would have remained at the same stage for decades if Flory had not taken up his research, and also if it were not for Cheyne's chemical know-how, and their combined patience and enthusiasm to overcome many difficulties, and perhaps penicillin is not yet possible. would be of use as a practical therapeutic agent.

Antibiotics

Fleming's accidental discovery and isolation of penicillin in September 1928 marked the beginning of modern antibiotics. Fleming also found that bacteria were resistant to antibiotics if they were exposed to small amounts of penicillin, or if the antibiotic was taken for too short a time. Almroth Wright predicted antibiotic resistance before it was discovered experimentally. Fleming spoke about the use of penicillin in his many speeches around the world. He warned that penicillin should not be used until the disease is diagnosed, and if an antibiotic is still needed, then penicillin should not be used for a short time and in very small quantities, since under these conditions bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics.

Personal life

Last years

In 1955, Fleming died at his home in London from a heart attack. He was cremated and a week later his ashes were buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Honorary titles and positions, legacy

Fleming's discovery of penicillin changed the world of modern medicine, allowing the creation of a number of vital antibiotics. Penicillin saved and still saves millions of people around the world.

The laboratory at St Mary's Hospital, London, where Fleming discovered penicillin, has now become the Fleming Museum. Also in the city of Lomita in Los Angeles, California, a school named after Alexander Fleming was established. The University of Westminster named one of its student buildings near Old Street after Fleming, and Imperial College buildings are also named after him. They are located on the South Kensington campus and have a large number of students in various medical specialties.

1) Fleming, Flory and Chain received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together in 1945. According to the rules of the Nobel Committee, the prize can be divided between a maximum of three people. Fleming's Nobel medal was acquired by the National Museum of Scotland in 1989 and is on display after a major renovation.

2) Fleming was awarded the title of Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgery in England.

3) Fleming and Flory were knighted in 1944.

4) In 2000, three major Swedish journals listed penicillin as the most important discovery of the millennium. According to some publications, about 200 million lives were saved with the help of this discovery.

6) A statue of Alexander Fleming stands next to the main arena in Madrid, Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas. It was erected by agreement with grateful matadors, since penicillin significantly reduced the number of deaths.

7) Fleming's Namestje - a square named after Fleming in the area of ​​the Dajvis University in Prague.

8) In mid-2009, Fleming was featured on a new series of banknotes issued by the Clydesdale Bank, featuring his image on the new £5 note.

Links

• Biography on the website of the Nobel Committee (English)
• Electrotechnical encyclopedia. Random events in nature
• About Alexander Fleming, an excerpt from the Book of Marlene Dietrich "Reflections"

Notes

Literature

• Morua A. The Life of Alexander Fleming / Per. from fr. I. Erburg. Afterword I. Kassirsky. - M. "Young Guard", 1964. - 336 p. - (ZhZL; Issue 379). - 100,000 copies.