SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING DISCOVERER OF THE PENICILLIN by Liam Zarb Piccione

1. SIR ALEXANDER FLEMINGDISCOVERER OF THE PENICILLINby Liam Zarb Piccione Quick Facts : Occupation : Biologist Date of Birth : 6th August, 1881 Death Date : 11th March, 1955 Education : Regent Street Polytechnic, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, University of London

2. HISTORY • Alexander Fleming was a Scottish bacteriologist, famous for his discovery of penicillin. • He grew up on a farm. His parents were Hugh Fleming and Grace Morton, both farmers. • As a young man, he served in World War I in the Medical Corps, giving him an opportunity to witness the death of many soldiers from infected wounds. • After the war, he accidentally discovered antibiotics. • In 1945, he was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

3. He was knighted in 1944 by King George VI of the United Kingdom and could from then on be addressed as Sir Alexander Fleming. Penicillin has saved millions of lives by stopping the growth of the bacteria that are responsible for poisoning the blood and causing many other once fatal diseases. Fleming identified the mould that had contaminated his culture plates as being from the Penicilliumgenus, and therefore named the substance it released penicillin.