Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich

1. Ehrlich

   • Magic Bullet
     • Had knowledge of germs and so the time was ripe
     • Wanted to make his own chemical antibody
     • Working on diphtheria and became interested in antibodies
       • Ward off germs without damaging body
     • German chemistry industry rapidly advancing so Ehrlich had a team that he made concentrate on discovering chemical cures for disease
     • 1899 - began to test synthetic dyes with limited success
     • Found dyes that would attack malaria and sleeping sickness
   • Salvarson 606
     • Discovered in 1909 by Japanese bacteriologist, Hata, who was testing discarded compounds
       • Koch's influence
     • Discovered that it killed the syphilis germ
     • Tested multiple times
     • There were concerns about this work however
       • Doctors found it difficult to inject
       • It was painful for the patient
       • Believed it would cause increase in promiscuity
     • Impacts
       • Short term
         • Ehrlich was able to find dyes that combatted sleeping sickness and malaria
         • 606's impact on humans was limited as it wasn't accepted within the medical community
       • Long term
         • Over the next 20 years many more magic bullets were discovered including for pneumonia and meningitis
         • Limitations including that they didn't work for everything