The development of penicillin started – but definitely did not end – with the chance discovery of some mold in a petri dish. There is so much more to the story.

Research:
Bernard, Diane. “How a miracle drug changed the fight against infection during World War II.” Washington Post. 7/11/2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/11/penicillin-coronavirus-florey-wwii-infection/
British Library. “Inventor(s) of the month, Alexander Fleming and the story of Penicillin.” 7/28/2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/business/2021/07/inventors-of-the-month-alexander-fleming.html
Chain, E. et al. “Penicillin as a Chemotherapeutic Agent.” The Lancet. Vol. 236, Issue 6104. 8/24/1940. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(01)08728-1
Fleming A. On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium, with Special Reference to their Use in the Isolation of B. influenzæ. Br J Exp Pathol. 1929 Jun;10(3):226–36. PMCID: PMC2048009.
Gaynes, Robert. “The Discovery of Penicillin—New Insights After More Than 75 Years of Clinical Use.” Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 May; 23(5): 849–853.. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403050/
Lee, Victoria. “Microbial Transformations.” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, SEPTEMBER 2018, Vol. 48, No. 4. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26507225
National Museums of Scotland. “Culture Vessel.” https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/culture-vessel/
Quinn, Roswell. “Rethinking Antibiotic Research and Development: World War II and the Penicillin Collaborative.” American Journal of Public Health | March 2013, Vol 103, No. 3.
Scibilia, Anthony Julius. “Being Prometheus in 1943:: Bringing Penicillin to the Working Man.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies , Vol. 80, No. 3 (Summer 2013). https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/pennhistory.80.3.0442
Science History. “Alexander Fleming.” 12/5/2017. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/alexander-fleming
Science Museum. “How Was Penicillin Developed?” 2/23/2021. https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/how-was-penicillin-developed
Shama, Gilbert. “’Déjà Vu’ – The Recycling of Penicillin in Post-liberation Paris.” Pharmacy in History , 2013, Vol. 55, No. 1 (2013). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23645718
The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, London, UK. “The Discovery and Development of Penicillin 1928-1945.” 11/19/1999. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin/the-discovery-and-development-of-penicillin-commemorative-booklet.pdf
Wainwright, Milton. “Moulds in Folk Medicine.” Folklore , 1989, Vol. 100, No. 2 (1989). https://www.jstor.org/stable/1260294
Wainwright, Milton. “The History of the Therapeutic Use of Crude Penicillin.” Medical History, 1987, 31: 41-50.
Williams KJ. The introduction of 'chemotherapy' using arsphenamine - the first magic bullet. J R Soc Med. 2009 Aug;102(8):343-8. doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k036. PMID: 19679737; PMCID: PMC2726818.
Wood, Jonathan. “Penicillin: The Oxford Story.” Oxford News Blog. 7/16/2010. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/penicillin-oxford-story
Zaffiri, Lorenzo et al. “History of Antibiotics. From Salvarsan to Cephalosporins.” Journal of Investigative Surgery, 25, 67–77, 2012.

The development of penicillin started – but definitely did not end – with the chance discovery of some mold in a petri dish. There is so much more to the story.
Research:
<ul>
<li>Bernard, Diane. “How a miracle drug changed the fight against infection during World War II.” Washington Post. 7/11/2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/11/penicillin-coronavirus-florey-wwii-infection/</li>
<li>British Library. “Inventor(s) of the month, Alexander Fleming and the story of Penicillin.” 7/28/2021. https://blogs.bl.uk/business/2021/07/inventors-of-the-month-alexander-fleming.html</li>
<li>Chain, E. et al. “Penicillin as a Chemotherapeutic Agent.” The Lancet. Vol. 236, Issue 6104. 8/24/1940. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(01)08728-1</li>
<li>Fleming A. On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium, with Special Reference to their Use in the Isolation of B. influenzæ. Br J Exp Pathol. 1929 Jun;10(3):226–36. PMCID: PMC2048009.</li>
<li>Gaynes, Robert. “The Discovery of Penicillin—New Insights After More Than 75 Years of Clinical Use.” Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 May; 23(5): 849–853.. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403050/</li>
<li>Lee, Victoria. “Microbial Transformations.” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, SEPTEMBER 2018, Vol. 48, No. 4. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26507225</li>
<li>National Museums of Scotland. “Culture Vessel.” https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/culture-vessel/</li>
<li>Quinn, Roswell. “Rethinking Antibiotic Research and Development: World War II and the Penicillin Collaborative.” American Journal of Public Health | March 2013, Vol 103, No. 3.</li>
<li>Scibilia, Anthony Julius. “Being Prometheus in 1943:: Bringing Penicillin to the Working Man.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies , Vol. 80, No. 3 (Summer 2013). https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/pennhistory.80.3.0442</li>
<li>Science History. “Alexander Fleming.” 12/5/2017. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/alexander-fleming</li>
<li>Science Museum. “How Was Penicillin Developed?” 2/23/2021. https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/how-was-penicillin-developed</li>
<li>Shama, Gilbert. “’Déjà Vu’ – The Recycling of Penicillin in Post-liberation Paris.” Pharmacy in History , 2013, Vol. 55, No. 1 (2013). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23645718</li>
<li>The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, London, UK. “The Discovery and Development of Penicillin 1928-1945.” 11/19/1999. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin/the-discovery-and-development-of-penicillin-commemorative-booklet.pdf</li>
<li>Wainwright, Milton. “Moulds in Folk Medicine.” Folklore , 1989, Vol. 100, No. 2 (1989). https://www.jstor.org/stable/1260294</li>
<li>Wainwright, Milton. “The History of the Therapeutic Use of Crude Penicillin.” Medical History, 1987, 31: 41-50.</li>
<li>Williams KJ. The introduction of 'chemotherapy' using arsphenamine - the first magic bullet. J R Soc Med. 2009 Aug;102(8):343-8. doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k036. PMID: 19679737; PMCID: PMC2726818.</li>
<li>Wood, Jonathan. “Penicillin: The Oxford Story.” Oxford News Blog. 7/16/2010. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/penicillin-oxford-story</li>
<li>Zaffiri, Lorenzo et al. “History of Antibiotics. From Salvarsan to Cephalosporins.” Journal of Investigative Surgery, 25, 67–77, 2012.</li>
</ul>

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Stuff You Missed in History Class

The development of penicillin started – but definitely did not end – with the chance discovery of some mold in a petri dish. There is so much more to the story.

Penicillin: More than a Moldy Petri Dish

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/227be0eb-f497-4277-a5da-af0300448c65/transcript

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