Medicine & Health · History of Medicine
A topic within History of Medicine, itself one of 10 topics in that field and part of Medicine & Health.
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Alexander Fleming
Reports that a mould contaminating a bacterial culture plate secretes a substance that dissolves nearby staphylococcus colonies, the observation that led to penicillin though Fleming did not yet purify or test it as a drug.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Ernst Chain et al.
Reports the first controlled animal experiments and early clinical use showing purified penicillin cures bacterial infection without the toxicity of earlier antiseptics, turning Fleming's laboratory observation into a usable drug.
link checked 17 Sept 2026