Penicillin

		A patch of Penicillium mold attacks a population of Staphylococcus bacteria

Arguably the most important medical discovery of the 20th century came about purely by accident. Throughout the 1920's, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was searching for a cure for infectious disease, the major cause of death throughout much of human history. As part of his research, Fleming was cultivating several species of bacteria in separate petri dishes.

One day, Fleming noticed that a mold had contaminated the petri dish containing the bacteria Staphylococcus, a common microbe responsible for a variety of ailments ranging from the ear aches to deadly post-operative infections. But before tossing away the moldy dish, Fleming realized that the intruder had actually killed off much of the bacteria culture.

Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin helped the Allies win WWII

The tiny, wind-born mold spore must have landed in the Staphylococcus colony during a brief moment Fleming had uncovered the dish. Fleming isolated the mold and identified it as a member of the genus penicillium. He called the antibiotic substance it secreted penicillin.

Fleming's further investigation found that penicillin killed off several, but not all, strains of the disease-causing microbes he was growing in his lab. Had the penicillium contaminated a different dish, Fleming might never have discovered its medicinal benefits.

Additionally, Fleming found penicillin was non-toxic to humans and animals. Realizing the strategic advantage in possessing the world's first antibiotic, the US and Britain joined forces to mass-produce the drug, and treated thousands of allied troops wounded in the D-Day invasion of Europe. It has saved countless lives ever since. In 1945, Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the "Wonder Drug" penicillin.

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners aspartame and saccharine were both detected accidentally in the lab

Dieters and dentists alike hailed the advent of sugar substitutes, for use in everything from soda to chewing gum to hard candy. Yet the three most common artificial sweeteners were all discovered accidentally, one of them before anyone was even interested in finding them.

In 1879, a chemist named Constantine Fahlberg was working on an organic compound in his lab at Johns Hopkins University. One evening at dinner, Fahlberg noticed a sweet taste on his hands. By 1885, he had patented the substance, which he dubbed "saccharine" based on the Latin word for sugar.

Similarly, a University of Illinois graduate student was working on a fever-reducing compound called cyclamante in 1937 when an event occurred that would never happen today. Smoking as he worked in the lab, Michael Sveda rested his cigarette for a moment on his lab bench (luckily, cyclamante did not turn out to be flammable!). When he put the butt back in his mouth, he noticed the strong sweet taste of a compound he otherwise never would have tasted.

Good fortune struck again in 1965. G.D. Searle chemist Jim Schlatter was working on a cure for ulcers when he licked his fingers to help him pick up a piece of paper. Eureka! Sweetness! Schlatter isolated the compound, properly called L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester and known today as aspartame, the ubiquitous NutraSweet brand sweetener.

Serendipity or Smarts?

Each of these examples of serendipity helped advance the scope of human knowledge by great leaps and bounds. But these accidents and twists of fate are not quite as random as they seem. Each discovery occurred in the presence of a well-trained intellect. Newton, wholly unaware of bacteria, could not have discovered penicillin any more than Fleming would have understood the significance of Bell's pulsating stars. As Louis Pasteur once said, "in the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind."
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Photos: Christine Case; Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine