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Oxford’s penicillin

Local history talks

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In and around Oxfordshire

Think penicillin is just thanks to Fleming? Think again! The drug we use today was developed by a group of scientists based in Oxford. Learn about the wartime struggles to make this life-saving antibiotic.

Oxford’s penicillin
Oxford’s penicillin

Time & Location

Local history talks

In and around Oxfordshire

About the event

 When Alexander Fleming was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1945, he shared it with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain. Why? Because while Fleming first observed and named penicillin, it was Florey and Chain and a group of scientists working in Oxford who developed it into a viable drug. In this talk Curator Without Museum will tell the story of the life saving work carried out in the Dunn School, the trials and tribulations the scientists faced and the experiences of the first patients to be treated with penicillin. 

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