In 1844 a terrible disease ravaged Ireland's staple food Ð the
potato. There were many suggestions as to the cause of the
problem including exhaustion of the soil and malevolent "little
people". The Revered Miles Berkeley found the answer in 1845,
using a microscope he discerned the long threads we now call the
fungus Phytopthora infestans. One million Irish people
died and two million emigrated to the new world as a result of
famine and disease. Among the emigrants were two families, the
Kennedys from Wexford county and the Fitzgeralds from
Kerry. Their descendant John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in 1917
and became president of the United States in 1960.Penicillium notatum and the antibiotic revolution
In 1941 Albert Alexander had an infection at the corner of his
mouth caused by the bacteria Staphylococci and Streptococci
which had spread to the rest of his face, his eyes and his
lungs; he was in a hopeless condition. At the time, the
scientists Howard Florey and Earnest Chain had just managed to
purify penicillin - the substance produced by the fungus
Penicillium notatum that killed bacteria and was
discovered by Alexander Fleming. Albert Alexander's doctor
Charles Fletcher knew that Florey and Chain were looking to test
this drug on a human volunteer and so Albert Alexander was
injected with penicillin in February 1941. Within 24 hours his
temperature dropped, his appetite returned and his infection
began to heal. Unfortunately, Florey and Chain had only
succeeded in purifying small amounts of penicillin and they were
running out. In desperation, they began to extract penicillin
from their patient's urine, but it was not enough. Albert
Alexander died on March 15th 1941. Despite the setback,
penicillin and other antibiotics have saved millions of lives
and the fungus Penicillium notatum launched this
antibiotic revolution.