Fleming's mold, Florey's medicine
Alexander Fleming noticed mold killing bacteria in 1928; a decade later Florey, Chain and wartime industry turned the observation into mass-produced penicillin.
Why it matters
Antibiotics made surgery safe and infection survivable, adding decades to average lives. Their weakening through overuse is the standing reminder that even miracle technologies are living systems we must steward.
People
Alexander Fleming · Howard Florey
Threads
This event sits on Medicine.
Related events
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica — penicillin