Study for the Life in the United Kingdom Test. Prepare with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each offering hints and explanations. Get ready for your exam!

Multiple Choice

Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery of which antibiotic?

Penicillin is the antibiotic Fleming discovered. He noticed mold growing on a contaminated petri dish of bacteria and found that the mold’s surrounding area prevented bacterial growth. He identified the substance the mold released as penicillin, the first true antibiotic. This breakthrough changed medicine by making it possible to treat bacterial infections, saving countless lives. Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain for the discovery and development of penicillin. Other antibiotics, like streptomycin (discovered by Selman Waksman) and later derivatives such as amoxicillin or tetracycline, were identified or produced by other researchers, so penicillin is the correct attribution here.

Penicillin is the antibiotic Fleming discovered. He noticed mold growing on a contaminated petri dish of bacteria and found that the mold’s surrounding area prevented bacterial growth. He identified the substance the mold released as penicillin, the first true antibiotic. This breakthrough changed medicine by making it possible to treat bacterial infections, saving countless lives. Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain for the discovery and development of penicillin. Other antibiotics, like streptomycin (discovered by Selman Waksman) and later derivatives such as amoxicillin or tetracycline, were identified or produced by other researchers, so penicillin is the correct attribution here.