HOW A LAB ACCIDENT DECIDED THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Before Alexander Fleming can leave London to begin his well-deserved vacation in the summer of 1928, he has to tidy up his laboratory at the St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School. It shouldn’t take long. Lost in thought, the bacteriologist idly puts a petri dish with a Staphylococcus aureus culture into a lab sink, planning to wash it later. Then he forgets about it. This seemingly unimportant incident sets events in motion that culminate in the development of a powerful antibiotic only a decade later. The result not only spares millions of humans from death by disease but also has a decisive influence on the outcome of World War II. But how can that be?

When Fleming returns from his trip, the forgotten petri dish is growing mold. There’s nothing strange about that— and yet something catches Fleming’s attention: Where the fungus has spread, the Staphylococcus bacteria are dead. This is quite a sensational discovery, but no one, including Fleming, initially recognizes the medical significance of it. It does not occur to him that the fungus could provide the basis for an antibiotic drug. Nevertheless, he records the incident and sends an article about it to the British Journal of Experimental Pathology. For 10 years almost nothing else happens. Fleming’s discovery appears to vanish into the fog of history. But the small flap of a butterfly’s wings over a dirty petri dish has undoubtedly triggered the onset of momentous events that are unfolding slowly but surely. By 1938 the slight breeze has grown into a howling wind: Fleming’s findings have made their way to another scientist. At Oxford University, Howard Walter Florey comes across Fleming’s article and recognizes its potential ramifications. He demonstrates the healing power of penicillin, first in mice and then in human studies, and starts developing production methods. Wartime Britain is unable to support mass manufacture, but Florey enlists the assistance of the Rockefeller Foundation as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mass production begins in America, and by the time the Allies land in Normandy on D-day there is enough penicillin to treat all Allied soldiers who need it.

The antibiotic thus plays a vital role in the Allied victory. While one out of every six wounded German soldiers ends up dying of his injuries, for the Allies the figure becomes one out of every 25. At the same time, many American and British soldiers are able to return to combat after only a few weeks of convalescence, while most of the Germans have to be taken out of action. The infection rates are high, and without antibiotics even a minor injury could cost a German soldier his life. Many historians today agree that without Fleming’s “miracle cure” the Allies would not have been able to maintain the level of their fighting strength— and perhaps Germany might have even won the war…

ALL IN ALL, THE DISCOVERY OF PENICILLIN RAISED HUMAN LIFE EXPECTANCY BY AT LEAST 10 YEARS.