Tears to Triumph

Imagine making a discovery that could change the world, but having no idea how to actually use it. Such was Alexander Fleming’s conundrum: when he stumbled across penicillin, he couldn’t fathom how to isolate the active ingredient to make practical use of its antibiotic properties. It wasn’t until Howard Florey - born on this day in 1898 – took up the work that penicillin was raised from scientific curiosity to medical miracle. Florey was busy working with Ernst Chain on lysozyme – an antibacterial enzyme found in tears (also first formally discovered by Fleming). This work led them to penicillin. They succeeded in isolating sufficient quantities of penicillin to apply it as a medicine. The staggering results of early tests spurred on rapid development and mass production of the drug, just in time to play a vital role in treating the wounded soldiers of World War II, and millions since.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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