Penicillin
The discovery of penicillin is considered one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 1900s. Penicillin belongs to a group of medicines called antibiotics. These medicines fight infections caused by bacteria.
Before penicillin was discovered, infectious diseases were among the most important causes of death around the world. The discovery of a drug that could fight bacterial infections was considered by many to be a miracle. Quite simply, the discovery of penicillin saved millions of lives.
The ability of penicillin to destroy bacteria was first discovered in 1928 by an English doctor named Alexander Fleming. While performing experiments on bacteria, Fleming noticed that the organisms could not grow on a plate that was contaminated with mould. After carefully studying this, Fleming was able to identify the species of the mould, an organism named Penicillium notatum. This mould is similar to the green fuzzy mould that grows on old bread. Fleming performed further studies on the mould and eventually developed the antibiotic now known as penicillin.
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