Fleming, Alexander

(August 6, 1881 - March 11, 1955)
English microbiologist. Proceedings of immunology, general bacteriology, chemotherapy. He opened (1922) "dissolving" bacteria enzyme lysozyme, established (1929), that one of the types of molds provides antibacterial substance, which he called penicillin. Nob. pr. (1945; Joint. with H.U. Florey and E.B. Cheney).
. 120 years since the birth of Alexander Fleming
. - Dowdy "father" of penicillin
. Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming was born on August 6, 1881 in the county of Ayrshire in the family farmer, Hugh Fleming and his second wife, Grace (Morton) Fleming
.

When he was seven years old, his father died, and his mother had driven most of the farm. Fleming attended a small rural school located nearby, and later Kilmarnokskuyu Academy.

At the age of 13 he followed the older brothers went to London, where he worked as a clerk, attended classes at the Polytechnic in Regent Street, and in 1900. joined the London Scottish Regiment. Fleming liked the military life: he shot to fame first-class marksman and water polo player.

A year after the war, he received an inheritance of 250 pounds (a considerable sum in those days!) And on the advice of his elder brother on the father applied for a national competition for admission to medical school. On examination, he received the highest scores and benefited from medical school at the Hospital of St.. Mary. Fleming studied surgery and has withstood the tests in 1906. become a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Remaining work in the pathology laboratory of Professor Almroth Wright Hospital St.. Mary, he was in 1908, Mr.. received a master's degree and Bachelor of Science in the University of London.
After the entry of Britain in the First World War, Fleming served as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, taking part in the hostilities in France. Working in the laboratory studies of wounds, Fleming tried to determine whether antiseptics bring any benefit in the treatment of infected wounds. In their experiments, Fleming proved that antiseptics such as carbolic acid, while widely used for treatment of open wounds, kills white blood cells, which create a protective barrier in the body that promotes the survival of bacteria in the tissues.

In 1922, Mr.. After unsuccessful attempts to identify the causative agent ordinary colds Fleming unexpectedly discovered lysozyme - an enzyme that kills some bacteria and not harmful to healthy tissues. Prospects for the medical use of lysozyme have been rather limited, because it was effective against the bacteria are not pathogens, and totally ineffective against the pathogens. This discovery, however, prompted Fleming to seek other antibacterial drugs, which would be harmless to human body.

Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928. the result of a confluence of circumstances, so incredible that in them is almost impossible to believe. In contrast to their neat counterparts, cleaning dishes with bacterial cultures after work, Fleming threw for carelessness is not a culture for 2-3 weeks, while his lab did not have a cluttered desk 40 or 50 cups. Then he took to cleaning, looking through the culture, one after another, so as not to miss something interesting. In one of the cups he found mold, which, to his surprise, oppressed seeded culture the bacteria Staphylococcus. Separating the mold, he found that "broth, which has grown mold ... acquired a distinct ability to inhibit the growth of microorganisms, as well as bactericidal and bacteriological properties with respect to many common pathogenic bacteria ".

Mold, which was infected with culture, belonged to a very rare type of Penicillium
. Notable fact is, . that Fleming shared the samples of culture Penicillium with some colleagues in other laboratories, . but never mentioned on penicillin in any of the 27 articles or lectures, . published by him in 1930-1940., . even if it they went on Substances, . causing death of bacteria,
.
Penicillin, perhaps, would be forever forgotten, if not earlier discovery of lysozyme. It was this discovery led other scientists and physicians - Florey and Chesha to study the therapeutic properties of penicillin, resulting in product was isolated and subjected to clinical trials.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945. was awarded jointly to Fleming "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases". In his Nobel lecture, Fleming noted that "the phenomenal success of penicillin led to intensive study of antibacterial properties of molds and other lower representatives of Flora".
Over the past 10 years of his life, Fleming was awarded 25 honorary degrees, 26 medals, 18 prizes, 13 prizes and honorary membership in 89 scientific academies and societies, and in 1944. - Noble titles.
In 1952, Mr.. He married Amalia Kutsuris-Voureka, bacteriology and his former student. Three years later he died of a myocardial infarction at age 73.