Discovery of Penicillium

Question of The Day16-07-2023

Who among the following discovered the antibiotic producing fungus from Penicillium genus?

Answer

Correct Answer : b ) Sir Alexander Fleming

Explanation :

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin.

His discovery earned him the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine together with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, who devised methods for the large-scale isolation and production of penicillin.

Alexander Fleming was born in 1881 in Scotland. In 1928, he started a series of experiments that involved the common staphylococcal bacteria. An uncovered Petri dish sitting next to an open window became contaminated with mould spores. He observed that the bacteria in proximity to the mould colonies were dying. He was able to isolate the mould and identified it as a member of the Penicillium genus.

He found it to be effective against all Gram-positive pathogens, which are responsible for diseases such as scarlet fever, pneumonia, gonorrhoea, meningitis and diphtheria. He understood that the mould produced some juice that killed the bacteria. He named that juice Penicillin.

Hence, option (b) is correct.