urmiladuhan
July 6th, 2011, 02:23 PM
(Pleasant, accidental Scientific Discoveries)
Alexander Flemming came back to his laboratory after a vacation and noticed fungus growing on unattended bacterial petri plates. These bacteria were known to cause wound infection in soldiers during World War I. Instead of throwing away the fungus growing plates, he made the observation that the bacteria was unable to grow in the vicinity of the fungus (notice this in the attached thumbnail) . It gave Flemming the idea that the fungus must be releasing something that was preventing the bacteria from growing. He isolated the released substance and named it penicillin. The compound, as a drug, saved many lives.
Alexander Flemming came back to his laboratory after a vacation and noticed fungus growing on unattended bacterial petri plates. These bacteria were known to cause wound infection in soldiers during World War I. Instead of throwing away the fungus growing plates, he made the observation that the bacteria was unable to grow in the vicinity of the fungus (notice this in the attached thumbnail) . It gave Flemming the idea that the fungus must be releasing something that was preventing the bacteria from growing. He isolated the released substance and named it penicillin. The compound, as a drug, saved many lives.