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Ernest Duchesne (30 May 1874 – 12 April 1912) was a French physician who noted that certain molds kill bacterium. He made this discovery 32 years before Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of penicillin, a substance derived from those molds, but his research went unnoticed.
In his landmark thesis, Duchesne proposed that bacteria and molds engage in a perpetual battle for survival.(Duchesne, 1897), p. 37: "Dans toutes les expériences qui précèdent, ce que nous constatons c'est le résultat brutal de la lutte; …" (In all of the preceding experiments, what we see is the brutal result of the battle; … ) In one experiment, he treated cultures of Penicillium glaucum with media containing either bacteria that cause typhoid fever ( Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica, formerly: Bacillus typhosus (Eberth)) or Escherichia coli (formerly: Bacterium coli communis) ; the Penicillium succumbed to the bacteria.(Duchesne, 1897), pp. 35–36. Nevertheless, he wondered whether the Penicillium might have weakened the bacteria before the mold perished.(Duchesne, 1897), p. 37: " … mais rien ne dit qu'avant de périr elles n'aient porté une atteinte quelconque à la virulence des microbes et peut-être à leurs propriétés pathogènes." ( … but nothing says that before perishing, they i.e., hadn't struck some blow at the microbes' virulence and perhaps at their pathological properties.) So he injected guinea pigs with media containing bacteria (either typhoid or E. coli) and media containing Penicillium glaucum. The animals survived and were rendered immune to the bacteria.(Duchesne, 1897), pp. 38–40. He speculated that molds might release toxins, as some bacteria do.(Duchesne, 1897), p. 47: "Nous avon vu (chapitre 1er) que, dans l'antagonisme qui existe entre les bacilles du pus bleu et la bactéridie charbonneuse, ce sont les toxines de la premiere espèce microbienne qui ont tué la seconde ; en est-il de même pour les moisissures?" (We saw (chapter 1) that, in the antagonism that exists between bacilli of blue pus i.e., and Bacillus anthracis i.e.,, it is the toxins of the former microbial species which killed the second species ; is it likewise for molds?) To treat diseases, he proposed using media in which either bacteria or molds had been cultured.(Duchesne, 1897), p. 51. Duchesne concluded that:
While only weakly conclusive given the number of the experimental trials, this proves Duchesne understood, concluded, and published information about the effect of the Penicillium glaucum mold as a therapeutic agent in animals. Because he was 23 and unknown, the Institut Pasteur did not even acknowledge receipt of his dissertation.
Duchesne served a one-year internship at Val-de-Grâce before he was appointed a 2nd class Major of Medicine in the 2nd Regiment de Hussards de Senlis. On 16 December 1900, he married Rosa Lassallas from Cannes. She died 2 years later of tuberculosis. In 1904, Duchesne also contracted a serious chest disease, probably tuberculosis. Three years later, he was discharged from the army and sent to a sanatorium in Amélie-les-Bains. He died on 12 April 1912, at age 37. Duchesne is buried next to his wife in the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes.
A history of antibiotics contains a suggestion on why it was forgotten:
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