Inspiration. Thank God for men and women inspired to conquer the unknown.

Yes, which meant it was hard to patent a product based on this discovery. That meant no one was willing to invest in the project until WWII was imminent. This same thing happened with a lot of government research before the Bayh-Dole Act.

Hats off the Sir Alexander Fleming!

Jan

Probably because no one wanted to claim responsibility for that hunk of moldy bread, because then they'd have to clean out the fridge.
--grins--

And it is deadly to some of us because of over use.
A lesson about anything.
All things in moderation.

I'm allergic to that stuff. Found out the hard way on Parris Island. So I was among the few Marine recruits who got to call home Christmas of '69 due to being in the infirmary. So thanks, Sir Fleming. That call meant a huge lot to my now dear departed mother.

Serendipity? This wonderful man had the common sense to slow down and quietly observe before diving into a cleaning binge.
Sometimes having a peaceful spirit and no deadlines is all you need to make giant leaps.

The actual story is not quite what it says here nor even about ownership as dbh suggests. Fleming was the first to observe the effect of mold. He published but did little else. It was a team led by Howard Florey at Oxford that identified and isolated the substance and got it into production.

They say you are never too old to learn something and you showed me today that is true once again. Thank you for sharing this great article.

One of the reasons it took so long for penicillin to become a commercial product is there was no ownership of the invention.

Great Post

Great post Ribbens. No way of knowing how many lives were saved by this one discovery.

Thanks! (And even today, that moldy orange in the fridge is called "a science experiment.")