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Alexander Fleming

Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928. He earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945, along with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain. Fleming and his colleagues’ contribution to biomedical science made it possible to fight many life-threatening infections and spawned the pharmaceutical industry.

Black-and-white photo of Fleming holding up and probing a petri dish.
  • Author/Artist:

    Unknown
  • Year:

    1944
  • Type:

    Photograph
  • Topic:

    Penicillin