Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich was a young scientist when he joined the research team of Robert Koch. He, along with another Scientist, Emi Behring, developed an interest in the antibodies produced by the human body.His studies of these led him to believe that a chemical substance could be produced to work alongside these antibodies, killing specific bacteria without harming the rest of the body.

This line of research led to Ehrlich opening his own research institute, to search for 'The Magic Bullet'. The 'Magic Bullet' was the name given to the much sought after dye or drug that would counter act the spread of infection.

His results were a limited success: he found dyes that attacked malaria and some sleeping sickness bugs. In 1906 the detection by Hoffman of the microbes that caused syphilis opened up a new line of research. Ehrlich's team tested over 600 chemical compounds, searching for one that would target and destroy the syphilis germ. In 1909, a new scientist joined his team. He was asked to retest all of the discarded chemicals that had previously been shown to fail. The 606th compound selected and destroyed the germ. Ehrlich rigorously tested the vaccine and in 1911 Salvarsan 606 was used for the first time on Humans.

Ehrlich's work with Behring led to a cure for Diphtheria, he also researched extensively into the field of chemotherapy, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1908.

The fight against infectious disease: pages within this unit

What is an Infectious Disease? A Glossary of Infectious Diseases, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Vaccination, The Development of Drugs, Paul Ehrlich, Gerhard Domagk, Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, The importance of Penicillin, Factors affecting the development of drugs and treatments.

Activities within the Unit

Glossary vocabulary test	This activity checks your knowledge of infectious disease
Drag and Drop game	Do you know who developed each form of medicine?
Breakthrough against Infectious Disease	Use the information in this unit to answer a detailed question, then see how it compares with a suggested response. Ideal revision tool.

Recommended textbooks and revision guides

Textbooks	Revision Guides

In this unit:

Recommended Resources

Medicinethroughtime.co.uk - new site. Including Blog and use of twitter for free text / IM revision tips.

SchoolsHistory.org.uk highly recommends these sites:

Schoolhistory.co.uk - fantastic range of interactive games, revision materials and links.
ActiveHistory.co.uk - outstanding use of ICT to engage pupils.
Thinkinghistory.co.uk - a brilliant range of learning activities from Ian Dawson
JohnDClare.net - simply the best for Modern World GCSE students
History.org.uk - resources and CPD materials from the Historical Association.
Historyboxes.com - make your lessons 'real' with artefacts and living history provided by experts
Schoolshistory.com - same author as this site, just put together in a slightly different way!