A lack of foresight, as expressed by hindsight, led one investigator in the 1960s to label mycotoxicoses as the "neglected diseases" (Forgacs 1962). During the 1940s and 1950s, large numbers of microbial compounds, including those produced by fungi, were isolated and analyzed for their antibiotic potential. Those substances too toxic for consideration were set aside and soon forgotten. The conclusion was that compounds too toxic for beneficial application could be potentially detrimental to human and animal health if produced under natural circumstances. This concept was recognized and stated simply in 1913 by two investigators with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Alsberg and Black 1913), butas so often happens with a simple, direct concept-it was forgotten. Similar observations were subsequently made by Japanese and Russian researchers, but language differences kept this information from the Western world. In 1961, English researchers initiated the modern era of mycotoxin research in publications announcing the "newly discovered" "turkey X disease." Subsequent studies led to the discovery of aflatoxins and the elucidation of their mechanism of action.