Part of the Alexander Fleming collection this shows a culture of penicillin.
Part of the Alexander Fleming collection this shows a culture of penicillin. The antibacterial effect of penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1929. He noted that a fungal colony had grown as a contaminant on an agar plate streaked with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, and that the bacterial colonies around the fungus were transparent, because their cells were lysing. Fleming had devoted much of his career to finding methods for treating wound infections, and immediately recognised the importance of a fungal metabolite that might be used to control bacteria. The substance was named penicillin, because the fungal contaminant was identified as Penicillium notatum.
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Photo credit: © Mediscan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: alexander, antibacterial, antibiotics, colony, culture, discovery, dish, fleming, fungal, fungus, growth, health, healthcare, medical, medicine, notatum, penicillin, penicillium, petri, photograph, plate
