The 1928 discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming crossed medical frontiers, being the first antibiotic to combat infections. Although he discontinued his research in 1931 after failing to isolate a usable drug, Fleming deserves credit for pioneering the first true antibiotic. His initial discovery allowed Oxford researchers Howard Florey and Ernst Chain to develop and produce penicillin, a frontline treatment now administered for more than 70 years to kill life-threatening bacteria.