Mystery #4Tier 2-3fungi / medicine

How did a patch of mould turn into one of the greatest medicines ever?

One of the most important medicines ever made didn't come from a clever machine or a fancy lab recipe. It came from a patch of fuzzy mould, the same sort that grows on forgotten bread. That mould has gone on to save millions of lives. So how did a blob of mould become one of the greatest medicines in history?

A culture plate with bacteria and a fuzzy mould colony surrounded by a clear ring where no bacteria grow — Photo: Wellcome Collection · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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