Fleming had been a military doctor in World War one and experienced the frustration and tragedy of men dying from blood poisoning and staphylococcus infections from otherwise minor wounds
Fleming became determined to find a solution and a cure for these sorts of infections and began working at Saint Mary's Hospital in London researching anti-antibiotics
Discovery of Penicillin
Fleming found a mold culture dish with a blot of white mold that appeared to be preventing other mold from growing or even killing it
Antibiotic
Fights bacterial infections
Fleming identified the penicillium bacterium as an antibiotic medicine
Fleming tried to make a practical medicine out of the penicillium called penicillin
Fleming grew cultures of penicillin in tubs in his laboratory but it was difficult to produce enough to make a practical cure
Penicillin was initially seen as impossible to make and impractical, delaying its introduction by years
Development of Penicillin
Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 led to experiments showing its effectiveness in killing bacteria without harming other cells
Fleming used penicillin to treat a colleague's eye infection
Penicillin did not work on deeper infections and took a long time to produce enough for use
In 1929, Fleming wrote about penicillin in a medical journal but it was not initially considered important
Fleming wrote about penicillin in a medical journal

1929
Nobody thought Fleming's article on penicillin was important
Fleming had not used penicillin on animals to heal infections, so he had no real evidence of its usefulness
The mold in Fleming's original petri dish killed bacteria around it but not those further away
Spores from the mold had floated into Fleming's window and landed in a place where they could have an effect
Florian Chain's research and trials on penicillin started in 1938
Howard Flory and Ernst Chain realized the potential effectiveness of penicillin and tried to get funding from the government
They received 25 pounds for research, which was not a significant amount
During World War II, the government had other priorities like tanks and Spitfires, so funding for penicillin was limited
Flory and Chain grew penicillin themselves using hundreds of Hospital bedpans
In 1941, there was enough penicillin to test on one person, Albert Alexander, who recovered from septicemia
Penicillin was effective in treating infections and was not harmful to the patient
Albert Alexander died due to running out of penicillin, despite efforts to extract and reuse it from his urine
The wartime need for penicillin increased during World War II
American government realized the potential of penicillin for treating wounded soldiers and provided interest-free loans to U.S companies for its production
British firms also started mass-producing penicillin
The American government realized the potential of penicillin for treating wounded soldiers after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and their entry into the Second World War
Interest-free loans were made to U.S companies to buy the expensive equipment needed for making penicillin
British firms started mass producing penicillin soon after the U.S, and there was enough to treat all of the Allied wounded on D-Day in 1944 with over 2.3 million doses
Penicillin could be made into a practical medicine with sufficient investment into the industry
Lieutenant Colonel Pulvertaft described the first use of penicillin by the British Army

1943
Penicillin was used in practice during the Second World War
After World War II ended in 1945, penicillin began to be manufactured and used by everyone, not just the Armed Forces
Antibiotics became more common in the 1950s and 1960s, turning from a wonder drug to an ordinary everyday lifesaver
Two thousand liters of penicillin were needed to treat just one case of infection in June 1943
425 million units of penicillin were being produced in June 1943, enough for 170 cases
Penicillin was developed using a variety of factors including chance, war, governments, science and technology, and individual genius
Fleming's discovery of penicillin was essentially by chance