From Fleming's famous moldy petri dish to worldwide medical revolution, Wade traces penicillin's decade-long journey from laboratory curiosity to lifesaving medication. This episode reveals how World War II necessity, international collaboration, and chance discoveries (including a particularly productive strain found on a grocery store cantaloupe) transformed medicine forever, while exploring how scientific breakthroughs actually happen through persistence, teamwork, and cross-disciplinary problem-solving.

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI