Alexander Fleming

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Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming (pronounced: /ˈælɪgˌzændər ˈflɛmɪŋ/) was a Scottish bacteriologist and pharmacologist. His best-known discoveries are the enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and the world's first antibiotic substance benzylpenicillin (Penicillin G) from the mould Penicillium notatum in 1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.

Etymology

The name Alexander is of Greek origin, meaning "defender of men". Fleming is a surname of Scottish origin, derived from a place name meaning "place of the Flemings".

Related Terms

  • Bacteriology: The study of bacteria, especially in relation to medicine and agriculture.
  • Pharmacology: The branch of medicine concerned with the uses, effects, and modes of action of drugs.
  • Lysozyme: An enzyme that catalyzes the destruction of the cell walls of certain bacteria, found notably in tears and saliva.
  • Antibiotic: A medicine that inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms.
  • Benzylpenicillin: Also known as Penicillin G, it is a narrow spectrum antibiotic derived from Penicillium fungi and is used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms.
  • Penicillium notatum: A blue mold that is one of the most common species of the genus Penicillium. It is of major historical significance as the original source of the antibiotic substance penicillin.
  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: One of the six Nobel Prizes established by the will of inventor Alfred Nobel, awarded annually for outstanding contributions in the field of life science and medicine.
  • Howard Florey: An Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Sir Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in the making of penicillin.
  • Ernst Boris Chain: A German-British biochemist, and a 1945 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin.

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