Vx. Princess "size_t queen" Grace 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_microbe damn, we gotta get ourselves a state microbe
quick, someone discover a novel antibiotic
Oregon went with a yeast. That's a pretty good microbe to have.
New Jersey and Illinois both went with an antibiotic. Also great microbe choices.
the story of how all modern penicillin production dates back to one moldy cantaloupe in Peoria is getting to me
illinois was firing on all cylinders that year
getting microbemogged by Peoria
i was hoping i could cure my isekai anxiety by being able to discover penicillin, but it turns out to be kind of a pain to get anything useful out of
there's something poetic about this incredibly common mold just hanging out in the air, waiting for someone to do something with it
fixed point in history ass situation where they thought no one was going to use penicillin for anything until WW2 really made them pcik up the pace
honestly, the moldy canteloupe with the really good penicillin with no clear origin reeks of time traveler or fixed point in history type stuff
if you need a macguffin for your time travel story, "the moldy cantaloupe with the really good penicillin in 1943" is a good one
transitive hitler-killing story
perfect example of a thing that is trivially manufactured in the future (because we've been producing it in industrial quantities since 1943) but isn't suspicious to bring back in time (presumably that strain of penicillium was just waiting in the atmosphere this whole time)
small domino: some farmer in Peoria brings a moldy cantaloupe to market
large domino: the allies win World War 2
The Witch of Crow Briar@BestGirlGrace I question your familiarity with British food, food storage, and hygiene practices. I think its even more impressive that Ian Fleming had time to discover it between writing the James Bond novels and Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang 😅
@crowbriarhexe the cantaloupe was in Illinois! The british were too busy being in the war to spin up a penicillin machine.
@BestGirlGrace Uhhh.... just like the rest of World War 2, this feels like a case of America getting there years too late and claiming they did everything: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Fleming
Mr. Scam Likely@BestGirlGrace ok, so, germ theory, but also anti-germs just floating around? It turns out a small number of microbes are on our side, by accident.
@unlofl turns out there's a mold that manufactures this antibacterial under circumstances.
but it's really finicky to get anything out of
keithzg@BestGirlGrace No kidding, literally need a microbe to make firm cheese, c'mon Wisconsin it's right there!