The core structure of<unk> , where R is a variable group Fleming's mould,<unk> m rubens CBS 205.57. A–C. Colonies 7 d old 25 °C. A. CYA. B. MEA. C. YES. D–H. Condiophores. I. Conidia. Bars = 10 µm. The<unk>  follows a number of observations and discoveries of apparent evidence of antibiotic activity of the mould<unk> m that led to the development of<unk> s that became the most widely used antibiotics. Following the identification of<unk> m rubens as the source of the compound in 1928 and with the production of pure compound in 1942,<unk>  became the first naturally derived antibiotic. There are anecdotes about ancient societies using moulds to treat infections, and in the following centuries many people observed the inhibition of bacterial growth by various moulds. However, it is unknown if the species involved were<unk> m species or if the antimicrobial substances produced were<unk> . While working at St Mary's Hospital in London, Scottish physician Alexander Fleming was the first to experimentally discover that a<unk> m mould secretes an antibacterial substance, and the first to concentrate the active substance involved, which he named<unk>  in 1928. The mould was determined to be a rare variant of<unk> m notatum (now<unk> m rubens), a laboratory contaminant in his lab. For the next 16 years, he pursued better methods of production of<unk> , medicinal uses and clinical trial. His successful treatment of Harry Lambert who had otherwise fatal streptococcal meningitis in 1942 proved to be a critical moment in the medical usage of<unk> . Many later scientists were involved in the stabilization and mass production of<unk>  and in the search for more productive strains of<unk> m. Important contributors include Ernst Chain, Howard Florey, Norman Heatley and Edward Abraham. Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery and development of<unk> . Dorothy Hodgkin received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry determining the structures of important biochemical substances including<unk> . Shortly after the discovery of<unk> , there were reports of<unk>  resistance in many bacteria. Research that aims to circumvent and understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance continues today.
History of penicillin
History of smallpox
History of leprosy
History of aspirin
History of chemical warfare
History of typhoid fever
History of polio
History of cholera