Which of the following statements regarding antibiotics are correct?

I. Antibiotics are chemical substances produced by certain microorganisms that can inhibit or kill other disease-causing microorganisms.

II. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 while studying the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

III. The role of penicillin as an antibiotic was confirmed by Ernst Chain and Howard Florey.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

I, II and III

Antibiotics, a remarkable discovery of the twentieth century, have greatly contributed to human welfare by effectively combating disease-causing microorganisms. They are chemical substances produced by certain microbes that can either kill or inhibit the growth of other harmful microbes.

One of the most famous antibiotics, Penicillin, was actually stumbled upon by chance. Alexander Fleming, while studying Staphylococci bacteria, noticed a mold growing on one of his neglected culture plates. Interestingly, the presence of this mold, which he named Penicillium notatum, prevented the growth of Staphylococci. Fleming recognized that the mold was producing a chemical that had antibiotic properties and named it Penicillin.

However, it was the subsequent work of Ernest Chain and Howard Florey that fully established the potential of Penicillin as an effective antibiotic. They conducted extensive research and developed methods for large-scale production of Penicillin. This breakthrough came just in time for World War II, and Penicillin played a vital role in treating infections and saving the lives of wounded soldiers.

For their remarkable contributions, Fleming, Chain, and Florey were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945. This recognition underscored the immense impact of antibiotics on healthcare, revolutionizing the treatment of bacterial infections and paving the way for the development of numerous other antibiotics in the following years.