New Light on the Discovery of Penicillin

Abstract

Although penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming at St Marys Hospital, London in the autumn of 1928 it was not widely available for medical use until the late 1940s. Here, emphasis will be placed on the discovery and development of penicillin in England during this period, particularly on the so-called “penicillin-interregnum”, i.e. the period between Fleming’s discovery and its purification by the Oxford group, led by Howard Flory and Ernst Chain. Emphasis will be placed on some lesser-known aspects of the story, including the role played by Cecil George Paine, the first person to achieve documented cures using unpurified penicillin filtrates. Attempts will also be made to correct a number of common misunderstandings about the discovery, including the myth that Fleming stopped working on penicillin soon after its discovery.