Pharmaceuticals From Molds
Alexander Fleming's famous discovery of the antibiotic penicillin involved the mold Penicillium, although the species identity is disputed (Penicillium notatum, Penicillium chrysogenum or Penicillium rubens).
Several of the statin cholesterol-lowering drugs (such as Lovastatin, from Aspergillus terreus) are derived from molds.
Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, Norman Heatley, Edward Abraham and teams of scientists in the UK and USA developed industrial-scale production of penicillin between 1941–45 and arguably started the use of antibiotics in medicine.
The immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine, used to suppress the rejection of transplanted organs, is derived from the mold Tolypocladium inflatum.
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