What Duchesne had discovered was the natural antibiotic penicillinan achievement typically credited to Scottish physician Alexander Fleming.
Culture of penicillium mould.
This led Roux to suspect that certain microorganisms in the water might be inhibiting mould growth.
He suggested Duchesne explore this idea as the foundation for his thesis.
Each time, the fungal spores died.
He concluded that in the struggle for survival, the bacteria had the upper hand.
Initially, the animals became seriously ill, but they recovered quickly.
When guinea pigs were injected with a mixture ofS.
glaucum, they exhibited a similar immune response.
Duchesnes thesis earned him a degree, but the novelty of his research failed to intrigue the medical society.
Toward the end of 1898, Duchesne was appointed physician to the 2nd Regiment of Hussars based in Senlis.
He married in 1901, but his wife died two years later of tuberculosis.
He himself became ill with the disease in 1904, and was discharged from the army in 1907.
Fleming, like Duchesne, observed that the mould was releasing a substance that inhibited bacterial growth.
Alexander Fleming in his laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital, London.
Photo credit:Wikimedia Commons
Fleming himself was uncertain about the practical medical applications of his discovery.
He was more focused on its potential use in bacterial isolation than in treating infections.
His chemist colleagues attempted, unsuccessfully, to isolate the active substancepenicillinleading Fleming to abandon further research on it.
This breakthrough came just in time for widespread use during World War II, changing the course of medicine.
But I suppose that was exactly what I did.
Howard Florey and Ernst Chain.
This marked the beginning of a long-overdue recognition of Duchesnes contributions.
See:Alexander Flemings Microbial Art
In the years that followed, opinions on Duchesne’s legacy varied widely.
There are, however, those who attempt to discredit Duchesnes work.
British scholar Gilbert Shama, for instance, argues that theP.
It was their work that made penicillin available on a global scale, revolutionizing modern medicine.
The discovery was old science, but the drug itself required new ways of doing science.
