THE discovery of penicillin triggered the antibiotic revolution. But a forensic-style investigation of the lab in which Alexander Fleming discovered the fungus suggests it has been misidentified for 80 years.
and at Imperial College London looked at fungal samples still preserved in Fleming’s lab in London, and even swabbed his old notebook. They then compared them with samples from around the world.
Fleming thought his bacteria-killing fungus was , but genetic analysis of the samples showed that they comprised three previously unknown species as well as P. chrysogenum. The antibiotic fungus was one of…
