Mold for $1500

A mold sample of the discoverer of antibiotics was sold at auction for $ 14,600

Oleg Lischuk, N+1

A mold sample of the discoverer of antibiotics was sold at auction for $ 14,600, AFP reports (Old mold from penicillin discoverer auctioned for $14,617). History also knows larger sums paid for a similar souvenir.

British biologist Alexander Fleming, conducting microbiological studies with cultures of staphylococci, accidentally noticed that when they were contaminated with mold fungus Penicillium chrysogenum the growth of pathogenic microbes stops. The search for the active ingredient of mold led to the discovery of the first known antibiotic – benzylpenicillin – in 1928. This fundamental discovery marked the beginning of a new era in the treatment of infectious diseases and continues to save millions of lives. Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who conducted research on the new drug.

The auction lot is a hermetically sealed glass container resembling a Petri dish, which contains a dried culture of P. chrysogenum, prepared almost 90 years ago personally by Fleming. On the back is his autograph, which reads: "This is the mold that produces penicillin. Alexander Fleming". The souvenir was kept in the collection of the scientist's niece, its acquirer wished to remain anonymous.

A glass container with a dried mold sample prepared by the discoverer of penicillin Alexander Fleming was sold at Bonham's London auction for $ 14,617, reports AFP Old mold from penicillin discoverer auctioned for $14,617). History knows of larger sums paid for a similar souvenir.

British biologist Alexander Fleming, conducting microbiological studies with cultures of staphylococci, accidentally noticed that when they were contaminated with mold fungus Penicillium chrysogenum the growth of pathogenic microbes stops. The search for the active ingredient of mold led to the discovery of the first known antibiotic – benzylpenicillin – in 1928. This fundamental discovery marked the beginning of a new era in the treatment of infectious diseases and continues to save millions of lives. Fleming shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who conducted research on the new drug, for him.

The auction lot is a hermetically sealed glass container resembling a Petri dish, which contains a dried culture of P. chrysogenum, prepared almost 90 years ago personally by Fleming. On the back is his autograph, which reads: "This is the mold that produces penicillin. Alexander Fleming." The souvenir was kept in the collection of the scientist's niece, its acquirer wished to remain anonymous.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  02.03.2017