His Story (or History) of Drug Discovery

This is a story of Drugs, its HisStory.

Drug discovery is a result of humans seeking a solution for life threatening diseases that existed in the 19th century. Drug Discovery started as an offset of chemistry and has now become an interdisciplinary science.

Paul Ehrlich is regarded as the father of Chemotherapy. He was the first to identify that some dye's selectively stained bacteria but not human cells, and visualized the concept of treatment for bacterial diseases by chemical agents. He coined the term "Magic bullet" for these specific chemical agents. Ehrlich extensively worked on the dye, Methylene Blue, but it did not succeed clinically. However, his quest continued and he studied a number of arsenic containing compounds.

This resulted in the discovery of Compound '606' or Salvarsan which was used for the treatment of Syphilis. This was used in the treatment of Syphilis till the early 20th century after which Penicillin replaced Salvarsan. 

He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908.

Old NID
72697

Latest reads

Article teaser image
Donald Trump does not have the power to rescind either constitutional amendments or federal laws by mere executive order, no matter how strongly he might wish otherwise. No president of the United…
Article teaser image
The Biden administration recently issued a new report showing causal links between alcohol and cancer, and it's about time. The link has been long-known, but alcohol carcinogenic properties have been…
Article teaser image
In British Iron Age society, land was inherited through the female line and husbands moved to live with the wife’s community. Strong women like Margaret Thatcher resulted.That was inferred due to DNA…