Paul Ehrlich

:For the American butterfly and overpopulation specialist, see Paul R. Ehrlich.

Life

Paul Ehrlich was born into a Jewish family on 14 March 1854 in Strehlen (Silesia). Even as a schoolboy and student of medicine he was interested in staining microscopic tissue substances.

Related Topics:
14 March - 1854 - Silesia

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In his dissertation at the Leipzig university he picked up the topic again ("Beiträge zur Theorie und Praxis der histologischen Färbung").

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After his clinical education and habilitation ("Das Sauerstoffbedürfnis des Organismus") at the Charité in Berlin in 1887 he received a call from Robert Koch to join the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin (1891).

Related Topics:
Charité - Berlin - 1887 - Robert Koch - 1891

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Ehrlich spent two years in Egypt, recovering from tuberculosis. Thereafter he worked with his friend Emil Adolf von Behring to on the development of the diphtheria serum.

Related Topics:
Egypt - Emil Adolf von Behring - Diphtheria

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These works inspired his famous side-chain theory (Seitenkettentheorie) from 1897. This theory explained the effects of serum and enabled measurement of the amount of antigen. In 1896 Ehrlich became the director of the newly founded Institute of Serum Research and Examination (Institut für Serumforschung und Serumprüfung) in Steglitz (Berlin). In 1899 the institute was moved to Frankfurt (Main) and extended into the Royal Institute of Experimental Therapy (Institut für experimentelle Therapie). Here Ehrlich researched chemotherapy and infectious diseases. In 1904 Ehrlich became honorary professor of the University of Göttingen.

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1897 - 1896 - 1899 - Frankfurt - Göttingen

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Paul Ehrlich received the Nobel Prize for Medicine together with Ilja Iljitsch Metschnikow in 1908. In 1906 he discovered the structural formula of atoxyl, a chemical compound that had been shown to be able to treat sleeping sickness. Following this discovery, he tried to create a less toxic version of the medicament. In 1909 he and his student Sahachiro Hata developed Salvarsan, a treatment effective against syphilis. This work was of epochal importance, stimulating research that led to the development of sulfonamides, penicillin and other antibiotics.

Related Topics:
Ilja Iljitsch Metschnikow - 1908 - 1906 - Atoxyl - Sleeping sickness - 1909 - Salvarsan - Syphilis - Sulfonamides - Penicillin - Antibiotics

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Paul Ehrlich died on 20 August 1915 in Bad Homburg.

Related Topics:
20 August - 1915 - Bad Homburg

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