![](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/666/large_thumbnail_1989_0437.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/936/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0003_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/941/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0006_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/937/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0004_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/934/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0001_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/935/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0002_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel, England, 1940-1945](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/277/938/small_thumbnail_1963_0372__0005_.jpg)
![Penicillin fermentation vessel (early surface fermentation](https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/117/small_thumbnail_1963_0372.jpg)
Penicillin fermentation vessel (early surface fermentation method), c. 1943
Thousands of glass fermentation vessels like this one were used in Glaxo (now GlaxoSmithKline) laboratories to produce penicillin. The penicillium mould was grown on the surface of a liquid filled with all the nutrients it needed. This approach was superseded by the method of growing the mould within large industrial fermenters. The antibiotic was first used in the early 1940s and saved the lives of many soldiers during the Second World War.
Details
- Category:
- Biotechnology
- Object Number:
- 1963-372
- Measurements:
-
overall: 139 mm x 255 mm 183 mm, 1.5kg
- type:
- fermentation vessel
- credit:
- Glaxo Laboratories Limited