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Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist. He discovered enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and Penicillin produced by fungi in his petri dish in 1928. Penicillin would eventually become the first antibiotic. However, Penicillin wasn't isolated from fungi until 1938 by Dr. Howard Florey.

Biography[]

Alexander was born on 6 August 1881 in Darvel, Scotland. His parents were farmers, Hugh Fleming and Grace Stirling Morton.  He began his elementary schooling at Loudoun Moor and then moved on to a larger school at Darvel before enrolling in Kilmarnock Academy. Later he moved to London to live with his older brother, Thomas, to finish his elementary education at Regent Street Polytechnic.

Fleming was a member of the Territorial Army, and served from 1900 to 1914 in the London Scottish Regiment. When his uncle died, he inherited some of his money and used it to found his medical studies at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School. Originally, he planned to become a surgeon, but after spending certain amount of time working as an assistant to Almroth Wright at Inoculation Department he changed his path to new field of bacteriology. Almroth Wright, a biologist and immunologist who developed vaccine against typhoid, had a great influence on Alexander. (might require further research)

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