https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_microbe damn, we gotta get ourselves a state microbe
State microbe - Wikipedia

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

https://www.the-scientist.com/how-a-moldy-cantaloupe-took-fleming-s-penicillin-from-discovery-to-mass-production-72304

How a Moldy Cantaloupe Took Fleming’s Penicillin from Discovery to Mass Production

Alexander Fleming’s 1928 discovery of a mold with antibacterial properties was only the first serendipitous event on the long road to penicillin as a life-saving drug.

The Scientist Magazine®
illinois was firing on all cylinders that year
can you believe Wisconsin didn't vote in a state microbe
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