Actually, that’s a very common misconception! While the idea of using one organism to fight another has roots in ancient history (like using moldy bread on wounds), modern antibiotics haven’t been around nearly that long.
Here is a quick breakdown of the timeline:
The Real Timeline
The Pre-Antibiotic Era (Pre-1928): In the 1800s, doctors were just starting to understand germ theory thanks to Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch. If you had a serious bacterial infection back then, the primary “cures” were rest, surgery, or—if you were unlucky—mercury and arsenic.
The Discovery (1928): Alexander Fleming famously discovered Penicillin by accident when he noticed a mold (Penicillium notatum) killing bacteria in a petri dish.
- الاجابة : خطأ.
The Mass Production (1940s): Even though it was discovered in 1928, it wasn’t turned into a usable medicine until Howard Florey and Ernst Chain figured out how to mass-produce it during World War II.
Why the 1800s?
You might be thinking of vaccines or antiseptics.
Vaccines: Edward Jenner created the smallpox vaccine in 1796.
Antiseptics: Joseph Lister began using carbolic acid to sterilize surgical instruments in the 1860s.
While those were massive leaps for medicine, they didn’t treat an infection once it was already inside your bloodstream like an antibiotic does.
