Who developed the first true antibiotic medication and what was it called?

The first true antibiotic medication, known as penicillin, was developed by Alexander Fleming. His discovery occurred in 1928 when he observed that a mold called Penicillium notatum had antibacterial properties that inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus bacteria. This groundbreaking finding laid the foundation for the development of antibiotic treatments, which revolutionized medicine by providing effective means to combat bacterial infections. Fleming's work highlighted the potential of using naturally occurring substances to treat infections, leading to the mass production of penicillin during World War II and saving countless lives.

Other choices, while mentioning important figures and substances, pertain to different areas in medicine. For example, sulfa drugs were developed after Fleming's penicillin and were the first widely used antibiotics, but they are not classified as true antibiotics in the same sense as penicillin. Joseph Lister's contributions were pivotal in antiseptic surgery rather than antibiotic medication, primarily using iodine solutions for disinfecting. Robert Koch was a significant figure in microbiology, known for his work on pathogens but did not develop streptomycin, which was created by Selman Waksman in the 1940s.