In 1928 A. Fleming discovered that the mold Penicillium was lethal to the bacteria Staphylococcus. This world's first antibiotic turned the world of medicine upside down and saved millions of lives.
Balda's medical treatise was written around 900-950, based on an earlier 9th-century Latin text. It contains recipes for herbal concoctions, incantations and prayers - treating as best he could. There was also a recipe for an eye ointment made of onions, garlic, wine, and ox bile. Researchers mixed the recipe in the lab and the medieval ointment killed 999 out of 1,000 Staphylococcus aureus cells, both for in vitro and in vivo cultures on infected mice. Even the diluted version of the ointment was a powerful weapon.
Not only could the 9-10th century healers create the world's first antibiotic, but their recipe can also save our contemporaries when Staphylococcus aureus superbacteria become immune to today's antibiotics.
Forbidden History
