Penicillin

Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria. Perhaps one of the best known antibiotics is penicillin. Penicillin was discovered in 1928 but came into mass production during WWII (1940) this is most likely due to the wounds of soldiers from the war needing antibacterial treatment. Penicillin was discovered when a petri dish that was cultivating bacteria was contaminated and the mould that had grown on the dish had a halo around it where no bacteria were present. It was then known that the mould (Penicillium Notatum) produced an antibacterial chemical named penicillin. There are several different species of Penicillium, but all produce penicillin. Unfortunately due to the overuse of penicillin many bacteria have developed resistances. This increases the urgency in which a new antibiotic chemical needs to be found or synthesised.