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Penicillin and antibiotics

Alexander FlemingHoward FloreyErnst ChainNorman Heatley

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

In 1928 Fleming noticed that a mould contaminating a bacterial culture killed the bacteria, and published this in 1929. Florey and Chain's team made penicillin producible as a drug in the 1940s. Antibiotics have saved millions of lives; today bacterial resistance to these drugs is seen as a major global problem.

For specialists

Penicillin is a β-lactam that inhibits the transpeptidases (penicillin-binding proteins) that cross-link peptidoglycan in the bacterial cell wall. Resistance arises through β-lactamase production, target modification (e.g. PBP2a in MRSA) and efflux pumps. Deaths directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance were estimated at about 1.27 million in 2019.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Experiment

Mice infected with streptococci survived when given penicillin; untreated mice died.[2]

Challenging

Statistics / meta-analysis

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics was directly associated with about 1.27 million deaths in 2019.[3]

Connections

Parent

Medicine

Builds on

Germ theory of disease

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Sources

  1. ArticleFleming, A. (1929). On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae. British Journal of Experimental Pathology 10(3), 226–236
  2. ArticleChain, E. et al. (1940). Penicillin as a chemotherapeutic agent. The Lancet 236, 226–228DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(01)08728-1archive
  3. ArticleAntimicrobial Resistance Collaborators (Murray, C. J. L. et al.) (2022). Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. The Lancet 399, 629–655DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02724-0archive

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Penicillin and antibiotics. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/penisilin/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_penisilin,
  title        = {Penicillin and antibiotics},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/penisilin/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history

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