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Concept

Lysozyme

The image depicts a conceptual representation of lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme found in various bodily fluids, breaking down bacterial cell walls within a translucent sphere.

An antibacterial enzyme present in tears, saliva, mucus, and egg white that breaks down the cell walls of certain bacteria. Fleming discovered it in 1922 after a drop from his runny nose landed on a culture plate and dissolved the colonies. Its clinical applications proved limited — it works mainly on harmless organisms — but the episode trained Fleming to notice the kind of accident that produced penicillin six years later.

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