A scientist named Akira Endo found the first statin in a fungus back in 1971, and that discovery led to the cholesterol-lowering medicines millions of people take today.

A scientist in Japan found the first cholesterol-lowering statin by testing mold from rice — and it changed heart medicine forever.

Lovastatin was the first cholesterol-lowering statin drug. Scientists from Merck and a researcher named Akira Endo found it in different fungi, and it was approved by the FDA in 1987 after tests showed it safely lowered bad cholesterol in people.

Statins, a type of medicine that started with a scientist finding something in fungi, help prevent heart problems in people at high risk by lowering bad cholesterol in their blood.

A scientist named Akira Endo thought that fungi make natural chemicals to fight off other microbes — and that idea helped create the first cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

The first statin drug, called compactin, was found in a type of mold and works by strongly blocking a key enzyme our bodies use to make cholesterol — and it does this at super low doses, even in people with a genetic form of high cholesterol.