It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 20 years since Eric Lax’s book, The Mold in Dr. Florey’s Coat, was published. For those who haven’t yet read it, The Mold in Dr. Florey’s Coat is a highly entertaining portrayal of the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the heroic efforts by Howard Florey, Norman Heatley, and Ernst Chain to translate that discovery into practical use as a β-lactam antibiotic.
While Fleming did isolate a mold that he happened to observe on a Petri dish, and did some subsequent work showing the mold suppressed Staphyloccal growth and that an extract of culture broth suppressed bacteria from a sinus infection, he ultimately dropped this avenue of research to pursue other investigations. Florey and his team picked up the effort several years later while trying to produce lysozyme in practical quantities, and stumbling upon Fleming’s publications. These had also shown that an extract of what Fleming called “penicillin” was nontoxic when injected into the ear of a rabbit, and also did not cause a reaction when applied to a human wound. A series of experiments with laboratory animals showed the promise of penicillin for treating bacterial infections, but producing it in sufficient quantities to treat large numbers of people was extremely challenging. Woven in with the science in Lax’s book are the complex relationships among Florey’s team, Fleming, and Fleming’s backers, and the struggle to find equipment and financial support for the effort--all while World War II was raging. Florey’s team eventually came to the US, where they could fully engage in developing mass production of penicillin. With that achievement, we entered into a new era for modern medicine, with countless lives saved and new innovations in medical treatments enabled.
This book is a reminder of what life could be like if we were to return to a “pre-antibiotic” era, as well as a demonstration of the challenges faced when turning discoveries into products and services that benefit society. It also serves as a reminder for why it’s so important to preserve the ability to use antibiotics for generations to come.
Eric Lax. The mold in Dr. Florey’s coat: The story of the penicillin miracle. 2004. Henry Holt and Co. New York, New York, USA.