“Penicillin” is another way of writing serendipity. The discovery of antibiotics is undoubtedly one of the clearest cases of serendipity, in which a routine experiment became a turning point in medicine by chance. Thanks to accidental discovery most important in history, millions of people have saved their lives. An infection that in the past could have been a death sentence, today does not have to present major problems thanks to penicillin.
Serendipity came to the world in September 1928 thanks to the Scotsman Alexander Fleming, who after spending a few days outside his laboratory realized that he had left a bacterial culture plate forgotten. In its absence, the bacteria had formed a fungus. “Sometimes you find what you are not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly did not plan to revolutionize all medicines by discovering the primer antibiotic of the world, or the killer of bacteria. But I guess that’s exactly what I did,” he exclaimed.
Upon returning from his vacation, Fleming studied the mold that had appeared in the staphylococcus cultures and that had destroyed the bacteria closest to it, while those furthest from the fungus were healthy. The scientist then grew it in a new culture and observed that the moho was also capable of kill bacteria responsible for diseases. After identifying the mold within the genus Penicillium and calling it “mold juice” for months, on March 7, 1929, Fleming baptized this substance as penicillin. Thus, they began a series of experiments to detect the degree of resistance of multiple pathogenic bacteria to the new drug, which turned out to be negligible in many cases.
Despite the revolution that the discovery of penicillin was going to bring (and of which the Scottish microbiologist was aware), the publication of the article did not initially cause much expectation in the scientific community: it was not until 15 years later that the antibiotic would become universal use. Furthermore, it would be in 1945 when Fleming received the Nobel Prize in Medicinesharing it with researchers Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.
Currently, antibiotics are essential drugs in medicine, since fight bacterial infections which, if not treated, could have serious or even fatal consequences. Thanks to them, diseases such as pneumonia, bacterial meningitis or sepsis, which previously had high mortality rates, can be treated effectively, significantly improving the quality and life expectancy all over the world. They are also crucial in medical procedures such as surgeries, cancer treatments and transplants, where the risk of infections is quite high.
However, its improper or excessive use can lead to bacterial resistancea global problem that threatens the effectiveness of these medications and could lead to 39 million deaths in 2050. When bacteria become resistant, infections become more difficult to treat, which can prolong illnesses and increase the risk of complications. For this reason, it is essential to use antibiotics only when prescribed by a health professional and complete treatments as directed. Their responsible use not only protects individual health, but also that of the community, by preserving the effectiveness of these medications for future generations.
