Editing Alexander Fleming (section)

==== Reception and publication ====
Fleming presented his discovery on 13 February 1929 before the Medical Research Club. His talk on "A medium for the isolation of [[Pfeiffer's bacillus]]" did not receive any particular attention or comment. Henry Dale, the then Director of [[National Institute for Medical Research]] and chair of the meeting, much later reminisced that he did not even sense any striking point of importance in Fleming's speech.<ref name=":3" /> Fleming published his discovery in 1929 in the ''British Journal of Experimental Pathology,''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fleming|first=Alexander|year=1929|title=On the antibacterial action of cultures of a Penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae|journal=British Journal of Experimental Pathology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=226–236|pmc=2041430|pmid=2048009}}; Reprinted as {{cite journal|last=Fleming |first=A.|year=1979|title=On the antibacterial action of cultures of a Penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae|journal=British Journal of Experimental Pathology|volume=60|issue=1|pages=3–13|pmc=2041430}}</ref> but little attention was paid to the article. His problem was the difficulty of producing penicillin in large amounts, and moreover, isolation of the main compound. Even with the help of Harold Raistrick and his team of biochemists at the [[London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine]], chemical purification was futile. "As a result, penicillin languished largely forgotten in the 1930s", as [[Milton Wainwright]] described.<ref name=":6" />

As late as in 1936, there was no appreciation for penicillin. When Fleming talked of its medical importance at the Second International Congress of Microbiology held in London,<ref>{{cite journal|date=1936|title=International Congress of Microbiology|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=3944|pages=307–310|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.3943.253|pmc=2457049}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Dixon|first=Bernard|date=1986|title=A Salute to the Pioneers of Microbiology|journal=Nature Biotechnology|volume=4|issue=8|pages=681|doi=10.1038/nbt0886-681|s2cid=37941905|doi-access=free}}</ref> no one believed him. As Allison, his companion in both the Medical Research Club and international congress meeting, remarked the two occasions:<blockquote>[Fleming at the Medical Research Club meeting] suggested the possible value of penicillin for the treatment of infection in man. Again there was a total lack of interest and no discussion. Fleming was keenly disappointed, but worse was to follow. He read a paper on his work on penicillin at a meeting of the International Congress of Microbiology, attended by the foremost bacteriologists from all over the world. There was no support for his views on its possible future value for the prevention and treatment of human infections and discussion was minimal. Fleming bore these disappointments stoically, but they did not alter his views or deter him from continuing his investigation of penicillin.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>In 1941, the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' reported that "[Penicillin] does not appear to have been considered as possibly useful from any other point of view."<ref>{{cite journal|date=August 1941|title=Annotations|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=4208|pages=310–312|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4208.310|pmc=2162429|pmid=20783842}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fleming |first=A.|date=September 1941|title=Penicillin|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=4210|page=386|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4210.386|pmc=2162878}}</ref><ref name=":7" />