Re-examining the Penicillin Discovery: Beyond the Fleming Myth

I did not invent penicillin. Nature did that. I only discovered it by accident.

Fleming, a bit of an absent-minded professor (and a bit of a slob), left culture plates streaked with Staphylococcus on his lab bench while he went away on summer holiday.

When he returned, he found that 'a mould' had contaminated one of his plates, probably having floated in from an open window.

Before discarding the plate, he noticed that, within a 'ring of death' around the mold, the bacteria had disappeared.

Competing theories seek to explain inconsistencies surrounding Alexander Fleming's famed discovery.