Paul Ehrlich (1854 – 1915) |
Paul Ehrlich (14. March 1854 – 20. August 1915) was a German scientist, who won the 1908
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is noted for his work in hematology, immunology,
and chemotherapy. Ehrlich predicted autoimmunity and called it "horror autotoxicus". He
coined the term "chemotherapy".
Paul Ehrlich was born on 14. March 1854 in Strehlen (Silesia). Already as a pupil and student
of medicine he was interested in colouring microscopic tissue substances. In his dissertation
at the Leipzig university he picked up the topic again ("Beiträge zur Theorie und Praxis der
histologischen Färbung"). 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 Infection Diseases in Berlin (1891).
Paul Ehrlich overcame the tuberculosis disease, with which he was infected in Egypt. Thereafter
he worked with his friend Emil Adolf Behring to contribute to the development of the diphtheria serum.
These works were inspirations to his famous side-chain theory (Seitenkettentheorie) from 1897. This
theory explained the effects of serum and allowed to measure the amount of antigen. In 1896 Ehrlich
became the director of the newly founded Royal Institute of Serum Research and Examination
(Königlichen Instituts für Serumforschung und Serumprüfung) in Steglitz (Berlin). In 1899 the
institute was moved to Frankfurt (Main) and
extended into the Institute of experimental therapy (Institut für experimentelle Therapie).
Here Ehrlich researched chemotherapy and infection diseases. In 1904 Ehrlich became honorary
professor of the university of Göttingen.
Paul Ehrlich received the Nobel Price for Medicine togehter with Ilja Iljitsch Metschnikow in
1908. In 1909 he developed (together with his assistant Sahachiro Hata) Salvarsan a medicine
against syphilis and other epidemic diseases.
Paul Ehrlich died on 20. August 1915 in Bad Homburg.
Banknote displaying Paul Ehrlich
|
