Staphylococcus

Drug-resistant superbugs, which can live on flat surfaces, are the most serious worry. Often-lethal microbes like MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, do not respond to standard antibiotics, making it very hard to treat patients who become infected with them.

This Scottish bacteriologist accidentally discovered the antibiotic penicillin after bacteria-killing fungus formed on staphylococci cultures he had left unattended.