Sir Alexander Fleming was born on August 6 1881 in East Ayrshire in Scotland to Hugh and Grace Fleming. Alexander was one of four kids and he attended Louden Moor School. He later became a member of the territoral army and served from 1900-1914.

Alexander entered the medical field in 1901. Studying at St. Marys Hospital medical school at the university of London. While studying there he won the 1908 gold medal for top student. He planned on becoming a Surgeon but while studying he decided he wanted to go into bacteriology.   

During the war he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He worked as a Bacteriologist studying wound infections. He found that the antiseptics commonly used in treatment were doing more harm then good. And the best way to fight infections were to keep the wound dry and clean. His recommendations went mostly unheard.

In September 1928, after a month away with his family he returned to his laboratory to find a culture of Staphylococcus aureus he left out grew mold. The mold growing was first named "mold juice" then later chanced to penicillin. It was the worlds first antibiotic. Later Howard Florey and Ernst Chain purified it and it was used in WW2.

Florey, Chain, and Alexander Fleming all shared the Nobel Peace Prize it 1945. Alexander served as the president of the society for general microbiology. Alexander Fleming died of a heart attack on March 11 1955 in his home in London England.

Aldridge, Susan. "Penicillins." Biotechnology: In Context, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, Gale, 2012. In Context Series. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/AYXBFC815012785/ SUIC?u=spri92481&xid=e092122e. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Created: 02/09/17 09:44PM Note: This is a copy of a preformatted citation 0 New Options Online Database Archive & annotate "Alexander Fleming." DISCovering Biography, Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2102100608/ SUIC?u=spri92481&xid=447b25e7. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Created: 02/09/17 09:42PM Note: This is a copy of a preformatted citation 0 New Options Online Database Archive & annotate "Fleming Discovers Penicillin, 1928." Historic U.S. Events, Gale, 2012. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/BT2359030240/ SUIC?u=spri92481&xid=c8fdece2. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Created: 02/09/17 09:43PM Note: This is a copy of a preformatted citation