Alexander Fleming, associated with the discovery of penicillin. Wikimedia Commons.
B1 English reading comprehension about the accidental discovery of penicillin. Read for meaning, answer the questions, then use the Speed Reading tool to practise fluency.
One of the most important medical discoveries of the twentieth century began with an accident. In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was studying bacteria at St Mary's Hospital in London. After returning from a holiday, he noticed something unusual in one of his laboratory dishes. A mould had begun growing in it, and the bacteria surrounding the mould had been destroyed. Instead of simply throwing the contaminated dish away, Fleming investigated. He discovered that the mould produced a substance capable of killing certain bacteria. He called the substance penicillin. Fleming understood that the discovery might have medical value, but turning penicillin into a reliable medicine proved extremely difficult. More than a decade later, researchers including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and their team at Oxford University developed methods to purify and produce penicillin in useful quantities. During the Second World War, British and American scientists and manufacturers worked to increase production dramatically. The antibiotic was used to treat bacterial infections in wounded soldiers and later became widely available to civilians. Before antibiotics, an infected cut or a common bacterial illness could become deadly. Penicillin transformed medicine and helped save millions of lives. Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The story is often described as a lucky accident, but Fleming's careful observation was essential: many people might have seen only a ruined experiment, while he recognised an important clue.
Comprehension questions
What did Fleming notice in a laboratory dish?
Why was penicillin not immediately used as a medicine?
