An antibiotic substance produced by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, used in ointments and topical treatments to prevent bacterial infections.
From Bacillus + Tracy (the name of the patient from whom the original Bacillus strain was isolated) + -in (chemical suffix). The name honors both the source bacterium and the human origin.
Bacitracin is in nearly every first-aid kit and antibiotic ointment because it's safe, effective, and inexpensive—discovered by accident when doctors cultured bacteria from a wounded patient.
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