A lot of research and great efforts by scientists were needed to get penicillin from mold in laboratory containers - an antibiotic that enabled the treatment of serious diseases and saved millions of lives.
Its existence was known as early as the 19th century, but the Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming first saw its importance in 1928.
"When I woke up that morning, I certainly didn't plan to start a revolution in medicine by discovering the first antibiotic and bacteria killer." said is a Scottish scientist a few years after he discovered penicillin.
Due to the emergence of new strains of resistant bacteria, doctors around the world prescribe penicillin less often today, but it is still considered an "excellent antibiotic".
"Penicillin is the first, basic and best medicine, and it has fewer side effects and negative properties than with other antibiotics," says doctor of general medicine Vesna Marić for the BBC in Serbian.
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Resistant bacteria and allergic people
Doctor Marić says that penicillin is excellent because it is not "toxic" and therefore can be given in large quantities.
Penicillin can be introduced into the body by injections, into the muscle and orally - by tablets. It is prescribed for "gram positive" bacteria and cocci - their round forms.
However, its long-term use can lead to unwanted phenomena such as diarrhea and fungi, and there are also people allergic to penicillin. In that case, other antibiotics - macrolides - are prescribed, while the allergy is determined by testing.
Sometimes there are reactions that are not of the allergic type, but are unpleasant.
"When penicillin crystals do not dissolve well in water, they are accidentally inserted into a blood vessel and then go directly to the brain, then there is ringing in the ears, tingling and redness, more than stress and fear," explains Dr. Marić.
Many people think that they can be resistant to penicillin, however, only certain strains of bacteria acquire resistance to the antibiotic due to overuse of the drug.
That is why health organizations around the world are trying to reduce the use of antibiotics, especially for diseases that are not serious.
How was the journey to the injection?
Certain studies indicate that penicillin was used in prehistoric times.
Australian scientists suspect that Neanderthals, the distant ancestors of today's humans, used penicillin for treatment 40.000 years ago because a DNA analysis of their teeth found "traces of antibiotic mold".
While serving as an army medic during World War I, Fleming noticed that antiseptics - agents to prevent the growth and reproduction of bacteria - did not stop infection, especially in deep wounds.
He discovered the importance of penicillin by accident, ten years after the end of the war.
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Returning from vacation, Fleming removed the surface layer from old laboratory dishes and noticed that the bacteria he was growing - golden staphylococcus (Staphylococcus aureus) - was destroyed by mold.
Penicillin was isolated from mold under the name Penicillium notatum (penicillium notatum). He repeated the research on other bacteria, where the substance showed a satisfactory effect.
He managed to demonstrate the clinical potential of penicillin, but he had no money or conditions to continue his research.
The challenge was taken up by scientists from Oxford, Ernst Cheyne and Howard Florey, who in 1939 received financial assistance from the Government of Great Britain.
The problem was to produce a sufficient amount of penicillin - in thousands of bottles of milk, there was enough to recover only four mice on which they tested the drug.
The first human testing was done in 1941, when penicillin was shown to be effective, despite the fact that the patient died because the drug ran out.
It was until 1943 started mass production, and the US army alone consumed two million doses of penicillin per month in 1945.
For this revolutionary endeavor in medicine, Fleming, Florey and Cheyne received the Nobel Prize in 1945.
Who was Alexander Fleming?
He was born on August 6, 1881 in the Scottish town of Darvel.
He grew up in a modest rural family, and after completing his medical studies, he worked as a venereologist.
He participated in the First World War as a doctor on the Western Front in France.
There were stories that he saved the life of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill twice, but biographers determined that it was about mitu.
A few years ago, the mold from which Fleming first obtained penicillin and whose authenticity is confirmed by his signature was sold at auction for almost 15.000 dollars.
Fleming died in 1955 in London.
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