Magic bullet (medicine)
The magic bullet is a scientific concept developed by the German Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich in 1907.[1] While working at the Institute of Experimental Therapy (Institut für experimentelle Therapie), Ehrlich formed an idea that it could be possible to kill specific microbes (such as bacteria), which cause diseases in the body, without harming the body itself. He named the hypothetical agent as Zauberkugel,[2] and used the English translation "magic bullet" in The Harben Lectures at London.[3] The name itself is a reference to an old German myth about a bullet that cannot miss its target. Ehrlich had in mind Carl Maria von Weber's popular 1821 opera Der Freischütz, in which a young hunter is required to hit an impossible target in order to marry his bride.[4]
Ehrlich envisioned that just like a bullet fired from a gun to hit a specific target, there could be a way to specifically target invading microbes. His continued research to discover the magic bullet resulted in further knowledge of the functions of the body's
Ehrlich's discovery of Salvarsan in 1909 for the treatment of syphilis is termed as the first magic bullet.[7] This led to the foundation of the concept of chemotherapy.[8]
Background
Research on antibody
In the early 1890s, Paul Ehrlich started to work with
Research on therapeutic properties of dyes
Ehrlich joined the Institute of Experimental Therapy (Institut für experimentelle Therapie) at
His institute was convenient as it was adjacent to a dye factory. He began testing a number of compounds against different microbes. It was during his research that he coined the terms "chemotherapy" and "magic bullet". Although he used the German word zauberkugel in his earlier writings, the first time he introduced the English term "magic bullet" was at a Harben Lecture in London in 1908.[8] By 1901, with the help of Japanese microbiologist Kiyoshi Shiga, Ehrlich experimented with hundreds of dyes on mice infected with trypanosome, a protozoan parasite that causes sleeping sickness. In 1904 they successfully prepared a red azo dye they called Trypan Red for the treatment of sleeping sickness.[7]
Discovery of the first magic bullet – Salvarsan
In 1906 Ehrlich developed a new derivative of arsenic compound, which he code-named Compound 606 (the number representing the series of all his tested compounds). The compound was effective against malaria infection in experimental animals.[7] In 1905, Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann identified a spirochaete bacterium (Treponema pallidum) as the causative organism of syphilis. With this new knowledge, Ehrlich tested Compound 606 (chemically arsphenamine) on a syphilis-infected rabbit. He did not recognise its effectiveness. Sahachiro Hata went over Ehrlich's work and found on 31 August 1909 that the rabbit, which had been injected with Salvarsan 606, was cured using only a single dose, the rabbit showing no adverse effect.[7]
The normal treatment procedure of syphilis at the time involved two to four years routine injection with mercury. Ehrlich, after receiving this information, performed experiments on human patients with the same success. After convincing clinical trials, the compound number 606 was given the trade name "Salvarsan", a portmanteau for "saving arsenic".[2] Salvarsan was commercially introduced in 1910, and in 1913, a less toxic form, "Neosalvarsan" (Compound 914), was released in the market. These drugs became the principal treatments of syphilis until the arrival of penicillin and other novel antibiotics towards the middle of the 20th century.[7]
Ehrlich created the concept of magic bullet based on the development of arsphenamine and introduced the English phrase "magic bullet" in The Harben Lectures for 1907 of the Royal Institute of Public Health at London.[1] However, he had used the German word Zauberkugel in his earlier works on the side-chain theory.[3] The magic bullet became the foundation of modern pharmaceutical research.[11]
Cultural reference
A biographical film of Ehrlich
Dr.
Critics of the
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-08-009056-6[Reprint of "Experimental Researches on Specific Therapy: On Immunity with special Reference to the Relationship between Distribution and Action of Antigens" from ''The Harben Lectures for 1907 of the Royal Institute of Public Health'', London: Lewis, 1908]
- ^ S2CID 40777633.
- ^ PMID 11624364.
- ^ "Magic Bullets". www.ehrlich-2008.org. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- )
- PMID 15014180.
- ^ PMID 21140107.
- ^ PMID 19679737.
- ^ Chuaire, Lilian; Cediel, Juan Fernando (2009). "Paul Ehrlich: From magic bullets to chemotherapy". Colombia Médica. 39 (3): online.
- ISBN 978-0-435-30841-4.
- ^ S2CID 30063909.
- PMID 9816818.
- ^ Marc Lallanilla (November 20, 2013). "What Is the Single-Bullet Theory?". livescience.com. Retrieved March 20, 2024.