@wedwardes on #Wine #Curry and more: Sherry can bring the dead back to life

Friday, 27 January 2012

Sherry can bring the dead back to life

The Fleming Museum attached to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London

I often pass The Fleming Museum attached to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London but I haven't popped into the Museum yet.

Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), the Scottish bacteriologist was credited with discovering Penicillin in 1928. Visitors to the Museum can see Fleming's laboratory, restored to its 1928 condition, and explore the story of Fleming and the discovery and development of penicillin through displays and video.

Here is an extract from Fleming's Nobel Prize biography

Sir Alexander Fleming was born at Lochfield near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland on August 6th, 1881. He attended Louden Moor School, Darvel School, and Kilmarnock Academy before moving to London where he attended the Polytechnic.

He spent four years in a shipping office before entering St. Mary's Medical School, London University. He qualified with distinction in 1906 and began research at St. Mary's under Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy. He gained M.B., B.S., (London), with Gold Medal in 1908, and became a lecturer at St. Mary's until 1914.

In 1918 he returned to St.Mary's. He was elected Professor of the School in 1928 and Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology, University of London in 1948. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1943 and knighted in 1944.

Fleming receiving the Nobel prize from King Gustaf V of Sweden in 1945

Early in his medical life, Fleming became interested in the natural bacterial action of the blood and in antiseptics. He was able to continue his studies throughout his military career and on demobilization he settled to work on antibacterial substances which would not be toxic to animal tissues.

In 1921, he discovered in «tissues and secretions» an important bacteriolytic substance which he named Lysozyme. About this time, he devised sensitivity titration methods and assays in human blood and other body fluids, which he subsequently used for the titration of penicillin.

In 1928, while working on influenza virus, he observed that mould had developed accidently on a staphylococcus culture plate and that the mould had created a bacteria-free circle around itself. He was inspired to further experiment and he found that a mould culture prevented growth of staphylococci, even when diluted 800 times. He named the active substance penicillin.

Sir Alexander wrote numerous papers on bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy, including original descriptions of lysozyme and penicillin.

I am certainly personally grateful for the work of Sir Alexander Fleming. I also note that Fleming said:

"If penicillin can cure those that are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life."

Mind you I would have written just "Sherry" (with a capital S) as there is no such thing as British, Cyprus or South African sherry (lower case s).

But back to my visits to St Mary's.

Nearly three years ago I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at St Mary's Hospital.

That was just after I had set up my range of sweet and fortified wines - Sticky Wines.

As of now, and without any treatment, there is no sign of Prostate Cancer.

I am sure Fleming was joking about Sherry bringing the dead back to life. But I do wonder if regular consumption of Fino, Manzanilla and Oloroso is a cure -all - specifically of prostate cancer cells.

Perhaps it was some residual still alive yeasty "flor" in Fleming's glass of Sherry in the lab that gave rise to Penicillin?