SERENDIPITY IN SCIENCE

??????????? Many stories of scientific discovery report an accidental (and lucky) discovery.? A scientist studying one phenomenon accidentally discovers something entirely unrelated.?

??????????? As one celebrated example, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when the Petri dishes that contained the bacteria that he was studying became contaminated with mold and that this mold was surrounded by a cleared region where bacteria did not grow.? He had a friend identify the mold as being within the Genus Penicillium and he hypothesized that it produced a chemical that killed or inhibited the growth of the bacterium.? Later, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, Norman Heatley, and the other members of their team developed ways to grow the mold and to isolate the chemical.? Penicillin and its descendants have saved millions of lives.

??????????? Of course, the scientist must recognize the importance of the serendipitous discovery once it presents itself.? Alexander Fleming had to recognize that the mold on his bacterial plates made a growth-inhibiting chemical that caused the clearing in the bacterial culture - rather than just saying “damn” and throwing the worthless plates away.??

Chance favors the prepared mind - Louis Pasteur

??????????? The discovery of nylon, Teflon, Velcro, polyethylene, safety glass, X-rays, and sugar substitutes were accidental as well.? This isn’t to say that these ideas struck like a bolt from the blue.? Each research team had been focusing intense effort on a particular scientific problem; it’s just that their research then took an unexpected turn.?

??????????? One spectacular example of serendipity can be seen in the story of the discovery of Viagra.? Pfizer scientists generated many chemicals whose effect was to inhibit a specific type of enzyme called phosphatases.? A class of these enzymes helps regulate blood flow.? The company’s team explored using one of these inhibitors to treat high blood pressure; it didn’t work very well.? They then tried to treat angina (chest pain) with the same molecule; and that didn’t work well.? Then, during a Phase I safety test where the drug was given to healthy young men in Wales, these volunteers reported an odd side effect.? Pfizer pursued that effect and ended up with a drug that earns them several billion dollars a year and that treats a previously untreatable condition.

??????????? Of course, the serendipity of the initial discovery just generates the very beginning, the kernel of an idea.? It must be followed up by disciplined experimentation, peer reviewed publication, and often years of hard work.? The penicillin case cited above represents an excellent example.? In the short version of the story, Alexander Fleming’s accident “discovered” penicillin.? But, he couldn’t isolate the chemical – in retrospect it was too unstable and the strain of mold that he had produced it in too small a quantity – so he gave up.? It wasn’t until Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, driven by the outbreak of World War II, and later aided by the agricultural station in Peoria Illinois, applied multidisciplinary teams to develop a comprehensive production scheme that penicillin could be produced and administered to real patients.? A major reason that Fleming received credit is that he was willing to talk to reporters who wanted to tell the story to a fascinated and grateful public, and the others didn’t talk to them.?

??????????? Serendipity might trigger the initial discovery, but it must be recognized (as Pasteur noted) and the lead followed.?

??????????? The word serendipity referred to Serendib, the classical Persian name (and corruption of Sanskrit) used to describe present-day Sri Lanka.? The introduction of the word into the English language is credited to Horace Walpole in 1754 after he related the Persian fairy tale “The Three Princes of Serendip.” In that story, the princes make discoveries "by accidents and sagacity" while traveling.? It’s a great word, and an even greater concept.? But Louis Pasteur identified the most important part – the serendipity of a discovery only becomes important if its importance can be recognized.? And this often requires years of preparation.?