magic bullets

• magic bullet

  chemical treatment that kills specific bacteria in body without harming body
• • the first magic bullet was salvarsan
  • the second magic bullet was prontosil
• salvarsan:

  • Paul Ehrlich worked with Robert Koch in Germany
  • in 1900, devloped concept of magic bullet
  • tested arsenic compounds to find cure for syphilis
  • 1909 - Japanese scientist, Sahachiro Hata retested compounds and disovered Salvarsan 606
  • salvarsan 606 able to kill bacteria that caused syphilis
• prontosil:

  • 1930s - Gerhard Domagk experimented on mice to discover Prontosil killed bacteria that caused blood poisoning
  • tested Prontosil for first time on human when his daughter developed blood poisoning
  • first human cured by magic bullet
  • scientists found Salvarsan 606 and Prontosil contained sulphonamide
  • sulphonamide used to find cures for pneumonia and scarlet fever