Medicine in modern Britain, c.1900-present - EdexcelImprovements in technology - magic bullets
Medicine in modern Britain has seen great advances in the 20th and 21st centuries as technology developed and the government became more involved in the health of the British people.
Developments in science and technology in the 20th century led to advances in medical science and technology. These in turn caused huge improvements in the treatment of disease and illness.
Salvarsan - the first magic bullet
Paul Ehrlich had worked with Robert Koch in Germany.
In 1900, Ehrlich put forward the concept of a magic bullet when he argued that a chemical could deliberately target bacteriaSingle-celled microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic in humans, animals and plants. Singular is bacterium. in the human body and kill those bacteria.
Ehrlich tested arsenic A form of poison.compoundA substance formed by the chemical union (involving bond formation) of two or more elements. to find a cure for syphilisA sexually transmitted disease which causes degeneration to the brain and body if untreated.
In 1909, a Japanese scientist called Sahachiro Hata retested all of the compounds and discovered the first magic bullet, Salvarsan 606.
This was the 606th compound of Salvarsan (a drug containing arsenic), so it gave the drug its name.
Salvarsan 606 was able to kill the bacteria that cause syphilis
Prontosil - the second magic bullet
The second magic bullet was called Prontosil.
In the 1930s, Gerhard Domagk used experiments on mice to discover that Prontosil killed the bacteria that cause blood poisoning.
When his daughter developed blood poisoning after cutting her finger on a rose bush, Domagk was able to test Prontosil on a human being. She was the first human cured by a magic bullet.
Scientists carried out a series of experiments and realised that Salvarsan 606 and Prontosil contained sulphonamide.
Following this discovery, drug companies went on to develop sulphonamide cures for diseases such as pneumonia and scarlet fever.