Penicillin
Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered. It permanently inactivates the key enzymes in bacterial cell walls [1].
It was in 1928 that Alexander Flemming first noted the effect of penicillium on the growth of staphyloccoci; yet it wasn't until 1941 that it was first used for treatment against bacterial infection.
References
- ↑ Berg JM, Tymoczko JL and Stryer L, 2007, Biochemistry 6th edition, NY, W. H Freeman and Company, page 109