The soil sample was collected in a remote Indonesian jungle by a Christian missionary. A few grams of dirt scooped into a sample bag and shipped to the United States. Little did anyone know what those few grams would contain. A drug so special that its Chinese characters literally mean “The Antibiotic of the Ages”. It has been nearly 70 years since its market entry. In today’s video, I want to pay tribute to an iconic compound. The unique, mysterious, infuriating but life-saving antibiotic: Vancomycin. For over three decades, our drug of last resort.