Chapter 69

69. Fleming, Alexander Fleming (4)

****

It was a rare sunny day for the oceanic climate of West Asia, but I was too busy to go out.

This lecture had a purpose: to inform the world that antibiotics exist—substances that kill bacteria in minuscule amounts without harming humans.

For this reason, Istina and I were preparing the lesson. With a serious expression, Istina flipped through the materials we’d use for class.

“I’m kind of disappointed.”

“What about?”

“The fact that penicillin is made by blue mold isn’t something we can deductively prove, right? There’s no crystal-clear logic behind it.”

“True, if you compare it that way.”

“Should we bring the petri dishes?”

“That works too.”

Debating endlessly about whether black swans exist won’t matter unless someone actually catches one—or at least plucks a feather. Until then, the academic community won’t acknowledge their existence.

Even the theoretical background suggesting black swans could exist is important, but ultimately, nobody will believe until one is found.

Today, let’s just put the idea out there. Besides, the real focus will be presenting this on the grand stage of an international symposium outside the Academy.

****

The next day arrived.

It was time for the lecture. Today’s session had a specific goal: planting the seed of the idea that substances like antibiotics might exist before formally publishing our paper.

Fleming reportedly discovered antibacterial effects when bacteria he’d cultured accidentally died after being exposed to his sneezed mucus. From a modern perspective, tears and mucus contain lysozymes with mild natural antibacterial properties—essentially, natural antibiotics produced by the body.

“Istina, attendance.”

“Everyone’s here.”

“Good.”

I looked around the classroom. Strangely, none of the usual weirdos were present today—the professors or grad students who always showed up during my lectures.

Whatever, doesn’t matter.

“It’s recently been discovered that alcohol kills bacteria. This has helped revolutionize hygiene practices in hospitals and infection control during surgeries…”

—I trailed off slightly, leaving some room for doubt since we don’t know exactly how much it helped.

“But I believe it has been helpful.”

Anyway…

“Drinking alcohol won’t kill bacteria inside your body—it might even make things worse.”

“This relates to concentration. Even if you chug an entire bottle of vodka, your blood alcohol level won’t exceed 0.1%. To kill bacteria, you’d need at least 1%.”

Here’s the key point:

“So… does a substance exist that can harmlessly target and kill bacteria when administered to humans?”

Of course, it does—it’s called antibiotics. But they aren’t easy to find.

“Oliver, what do you think?”

“Uh… while there aren’t substances that selectively kill bacteria while sparing human tissue, many things can help boost energy recovery.”

That’s true too.

Take traditional herbal medicine for instance—it might work, but its mechanism is entirely different from antibiotics. A separate topic altogether.

“That’s valid. Any other thoughts from the students?”

I scanned the room.

“No takers? What if there’s a substance that harms bacteria in trace amounts without significantly affecting humans?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at my own words. How could anyone object? It would be great!

“To cut to the chase… my lab recently discovered a fungal strain capable of producing compounds that specifically target and kill bacteria.”

Oliver twitched his arm as if wanting to ask a question but decided against it. I gestured toward him.

“Go ahead, Oliver.”

“Is that even plausible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Fungi themselves cause decay and disease! How can they kill bacteria?”

“Well… let me explain.”

Bacteria compete with fungi for limited resources. While bacteria reproduce faster, fungi counteract them with more complex structures. One example is this compound.

“A selective bacterial toxin?”

“Yes.”

The classroom buzzed with whispers.

Our research isn’t fully complete yet, but by the time the Witbi Symposium rolls around, we’ll have more concrete findings, including methods for cultivating blue mold.

“Here’s how we conducted the experiment: We inoculated the center of a petri dish with fungus and grew bacteria within the same dish. In some cases, the fungus actively inhibited bacterial growth.”

Istina raised her hand.

“Do we have evidence that this is indeed a material effect?”

“The fungal hyphae are visible under a microscope. It’s reasonable to assume the secreted substance diffuses and exerts influence.”

Istina nodded.

Thinking further…

If we observe the moment penicillin is administered under a microscope, we can see bacteria bursting upon exposure. Though extracting penicillin is necessary for such observations, it’s not impossible. Visual proof remains the most convincing.

Perhaps we can directly observe the structure secreting penicillin. That requires more thought—airtight proof needs careful consideration.

Anne, a graduate student of Professor Croftler sitting in the back row, raised her hand.

“Are you saying there’s truly a substance that selectively kills only bacteria?”

“Yes.”

“Sounds like the dream of silver bullets… seems overly ambitious.”

That wasn’t really a question, was it?

What a rude student.

Though commercialization may take a while, discovery and validation are well within reach.

I shook my head. I understood why Anne said that, but she was wrong.

“Not exactly. We’ve already found it. The question now is whether this discovery can be applied clinically.”

Whether it’s feasible for practical use.

I’ve pondered this myself. Can we really extract penicillin from the blue mold strain within a few years?

It remains uncertain.

“Our plan is to grow the blue mold culture within weeks and attempt to isolate the compound. Culturing shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Chemical extraction will likely remain challenging for now. The classroom buzzed again, and Istina looked at me from the front row.

“Professor?”

From the very back, a woman in gray robes raised her hand. Turning around, I recognized Zaan—Violet.

“You’re quite the regular attendee, Violet.”

Well, Violet doesn’t work at the Imperial Palace much these days, so maybe being here is more useful. She attends classes more diligently than most students.

“Professor, are you saying you’ve already discovered a toxic substance that selectively kills bacteria but doesn’t harm humans?”

Exactly why I’m here. I nodded.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Can I see it?”

“Not really.”

“Just once?”

Isn’t she acting a bit crazy?

Reflecting on it, Violet has always been a little unhinged. She’s never been completely sane.

I sighed.

“I intend to publish a paper at the Witbi Symposium.”

“Understood.”

Violet lowered her hand.

****

Class ended, but Violet followed me to the lab.

“Professor?”

“Yes?”

“I need to report this to the Imperial Medical Bureau. Could you show me what you’re doing? I promise I’ll just look.”

“Hmm…”

Fine. Since commercialization will take two decades anyway, showing Violet a week early won’t change anything. Besides…

“If you can secure some funding, that’d be great.”

“Funding?”

“Yes.”

Violet seemed to deliberate on this.

“Alright. I’ll mention it to the palace—this is groundbreaking research that could change the world.”

“Thanks…”

“Then can I see it?”

I nodded.

“Follow me.”

I led Violet into the lab where the infamous blue mold was growing in one corner.

I pulled out a petri dish.

“Check it out.”

“Is this it?”

Following last week’s experiment, we inoculated the center of the dish with blue mold to observe how far bacteria couldn’t grow.

“Right. You see how bacteria can’t grow near the mold? It indicates some sterilizing substance is involved…”

“It’s clear enough.”

“Amazing, isn’t it? Whether it can be used as medicine still requires further study.”

Violet nodded.

“Give me a sample.”

“Didn’t I never see you working when you were at the palace?”

“Well… there’s no one smarter than me there now.”

Violet’s quite the character. She looks lazy at first glance, but she excels when it matters and knows how to navigate social situations. Despite her laziness, she’s hard to dislike.

I placed a piece of bread covered in mold into a glass jar and handed it to her.

“Satisfied? Take it to the Imperial Medical Bureau.”

“Ah, on behalf of the imperial government, I thank you for your efforts.”

Sigh. Sure. Violet carefully tucked the blue mold sample into her pocket.

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