Penicillium Mould presented by Alexander Fleming

Made:
1935 in United Kingdom
Sample of penicillin mould presented by Alexander Fleming to Douglas Macleod, 1935. Front three-quarter view, grey

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Sample of penicillin mould presented by Alexander Fleming to Douglas Macleod, 1935. Front three-quarter view, grey
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

A sample of Penicillium mould presented by Alexander Fleming to Douglas Macleod, 1935.

The British biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming gave this sample of the mould Penicillium notatum to a colleague at St Mary's Hospital, London, in 1935.

Seven years earlier, Fleming had discovered by chance that this species of mould produces a substance he called 'Penicillin' that was found to have powerful antibiotic properties. This sample marks penicillin's transition from an interesting phenomenon to a potential drug.

Details

Category:
Biotechnology
Object Number:
1997-731
Materials:
copper alloy, leatherette, penicillium mould and wood
Measurements:
overall: 76 mm x 77 mm x 33 mm, .14kg
type:
penicillium mould, bioengineering and microbiology
taxonomy:
  • drug
credit:
Christie's South Kensington Limited