Understanding the Natural Source of Chloramphenicol: From Soil Bacteria to Modern Medicine
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4 min read
The broad-spectrum antibiotic known as chloramphenicol was first isolated in 1947 from a sample of soil from Venezuela. Its discovery was a landmark event in medicine, tracing the origins of a powerful drug directly back to a microorganism, revealing that the natural source of chloramphenicol is the soil-dwelling bacterium *Streptomyces venezuelae*. While the drug is now produced synthetically, its roots in nature are a key part of its pharmacological history.
