Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss penicillin, discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928. It is said he noticed some blue-green penicillium mould on an uncovered petri dish at his hospital laboratory, and that this mould had inhibited bacterial growth around it. After further work, Fleming filtered a broth of the mould and called that penicillin, hoping it would be useful as a disinfectant. Howard Florey and Ernst Chain later shared a Nobel Prize in Medicine with Fleming, for their role in developing a way of mass-producing the life-saving drug. Evolutionary theory predicted the risk of resistance from the start and, almost from the beginning of this 'golden age' of antibacterials, scientists have been looking for ways to extend the lifespan of antibiotics.
With
Laura Piddock Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham
Christoph Tang Professor of Cellular Pathology and Professorial Fellow at Exeter College at the University of Oxford
And
Steve Jones Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College, London
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time |
| 0:04.0 | and for our terms of use please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio4. |
| 0:08.9 | I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:10.6 | Hello, in 1928 the Scottish bacterial just Alexander Fleming noticed something odd on |
| 0:16.1 | the petri dish he had left out in his laboratory, St. Mary's Hospital Paddington. |
| 0:20.3 | The dish was covered with bacteria as expected, except for one area around some mold. |
| 0:25.3 | He realised that something coming from the mold had killed bacteria. |
| 0:29.6 | Fleming named the mold's active substance penicillin. |
| 0:32.8 | He went on a Nobel Prize of Medicine for his discovery in 1945, along with Howard Florian |
| 0:37.4 | Ernst Chain who had seen the potential of penicillin and turned it into the life-saving |
| 0:42.6 | drug it became. |
| 0:44.3 | From that point on, scientists tried to understand how penicillin does what it does, and from there |
| 0:49.4 | to find new antibiotics to kill a broader range of bacteria and deal with the ever-present |
| 0:54.4 | threat of drug resistance. |
| 0:55.9 | To me to discuss penicillin are Laura Pidock, professor of microbiology at the University |
| 1:00.6 | of Birmingham, Christoph Tang, professor of cellular pathology and for Fossorial Fellow |
| 1:06.3 | at Exeter College at the University of Oxford, and Steve Jones, emeritus professor of genetics |
| 1:11.7 | at University College London, Steve Jones. |
| 1:14.3 | Before the 20th century, what did doctors use when they tried to kill bacteria? |
| 1:20.1 | Guesswork I think is the word. |
| 1:23.4 | People have known about fevers, of course, for a long time, and the assumption was it |
| 1:27.6 | was an imbalance in body chemistry, the famous four humors, and the assumption of a fever |
... |
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