Eli5: How is penicillin created from something potentially toxic such as mold?
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Toxicity is all in the dose.
Even water and oxygen are potentially toxic to us if you have too much of either. What is “too much” will vary for everything. For some things a very small amount will kill you while others require you to have very large amounts before it’s toxic.
So, the main thing that ensures penicillin isn’t toxic is the controlling of the dose. If you took too much, it would still be bad for you, which is why we regulate it.
It is created naturally by the mold, and it can be isolated or extracted from the mold to be used for medicine. Many other medicines come from nature, and we extract them from the source and control the dosage to get the effects we want.
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