Gerhard Domagk
Encyclopedia
Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (30 October 1895 – 24 April 1964) was a German
pathologist and bacteriologist credited with the discovery of Sulfonamidochrysoidine (KI-730) – the first commercially available antibiotic
(marketed under the brand name Prontosil
) – for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
.
Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg
, the son of a school headmaster. Until he was 14, he attended school in Sommerfeld (now Lubsko
, Poland). Domagk studied medicine
at the University of Kiel
, but volunteered to serve as a soldier in World War I
, where he was wounded in December 1914, working the rest of the war as medic. After the war, he finished his studies, and worked at the University of Greifswald, where he researched infection
s caused by bacteria
. In 1925, he followed his professor Walter Gross
to the University of Münster
(WWU) and became professor there himself. He also started working at the Bayer
laboratories at Wuppertal
. The same year, he married Gertrud Strübe. Later they would have three sons and a daughter.
He was appointed the director of Bayer's Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology, where he continued the studies of Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch, based on works by Paul Ehrlich
, to use dye
s, at that time a major product of IG Farben, as antibiotic
s. He found the sulfonamide
Prontosil
to be effective against streptococcus
, and treated his own daughter with it, saving her the amputation
of an arm.
In 1939, Domagk received the Nobel Prize in Medicine
for this discovery, the first drug effective against bacterial infections. He was forced by the Nazi
regime to refuse the prize and was arrested by the Gestapo
for a week. (This was because the Nazi-critical Carl von Ossietzky
had won the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1935, which had angered the German government and resulted in German nationals not being permitted by law to accept the Nobel Prize.) Sulfonamides became a revolutionary weapon at the time, surpassing phage therapy
, but were later replaced by penicillin
, which showed both better effects and fewer side effects
(sulfonamides can cause kidney stone
s and changes in bone marrow
). Domagk's work on sulfonamides eventually led to the development of the antituberculosis drugs thiosemicarbazone and isoniazid
, which helped to curb the epidemic of tuberculosis which swept Europe after World War II.
After the war, in 1947, Domagk was finally able to receive his Nobel Prize, but not the monetary portion of the prize due to the time that had elapsed.
He became FRS in 1959, his short biography was published by the Royal Society in 1964. He changed his focus to tuberculosis
and chemotherapy
against cancer
. He continued to live and work in Wuppertal. Domagk died in Burgberg near Königsfeld, Schwarzwald
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
pathologist and bacteriologist credited with the discovery of Sulfonamidochrysoidine (KI-730) – the first commercially available antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
(marketed under the brand name Prontosil
Prontosil
Prontosil, the first commercially available antibacterial antibiotic , was developed by a research team at the Bayer Laboratories of the IG Farben conglomerate in Germany...
) – for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
.
Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
, the son of a school headmaster. Until he was 14, he attended school in Sommerfeld (now Lubsko
Lubsko
Lubsko is a town in Żary County in the Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Lubsko and has a population of 15,370 as of February 1, 2005.- History :...
, Poland). Domagk studied medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Kiel
University of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
, but volunteered to serve as a soldier in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where he was wounded in December 1914, working the rest of the war as medic. After the war, he finished his studies, and worked at the University of Greifswald, where he researched infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
s caused by bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
. In 1925, he followed his professor Walter Gross
Walter Gross
Dr. Walter Gross was a German physician appointed to create the Office for Enlightenment on Population Policy and Racial Welfare for the NSDAP...
to the University of Münster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
(WWU) and became professor there himself. He also started working at the Bayer
Bayer
Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...
laboratories at Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
. The same year, he married Gertrud Strübe. Later they would have three sons and a daughter.
He was appointed the director of Bayer's Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology, where he continued the studies of Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch, based on works by Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist in the fields of hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy, and Nobel laureate. He is noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, calling it "horror autotoxicus"...
, to use dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s, at that time a major product of IG Farben, as antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
s. He found the sulfonamide
Sulfonamide (medicine)
Sulfonamide or sulphonamide is the basis of several groups of drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides are synthetic antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group. Some sulfonamides are also devoid of antibacterial activity, e.g., the anticonvulsant sultiame...
Prontosil
Prontosil
Prontosil, the first commercially available antibacterial antibiotic , was developed by a research team at the Bayer Laboratories of the IG Farben conglomerate in Germany...
to be effective against streptococcus
Streptococcus
Streptococcus is a genus of spherical Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes and the lactic acid bacteria group. Cellular division occurs along a single axis in these bacteria, and thus they grow in chains or pairs, hence the name — from Greek στρεπτος streptos, meaning...
, and treated his own daughter with it, saving her the amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
of an arm.
In 1939, Domagk received the Nobel Prize in Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
for this discovery, the first drug effective against bacterial infections. He was forced by the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
regime to refuse the prize and was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
for a week. (This was because the Nazi-critical Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky was a German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany's alleged violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and...
had won the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1935, which had angered the German government and resulted in German nationals not being permitted by law to accept the Nobel Prize.) Sulfonamides became a revolutionary weapon at the time, surpassing phage therapy
Phage therapy
Phage therapy is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages to treat pathogenic bacterial infections. Although extensively used and developed mainly in former Soviet Union countries circa 1920, this method of therapy is still being tested for treatment of a variety of bacterial and poly-microbial...
, but were later replaced by penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
, which showed both better effects and fewer side effects
Adverse drug reaction
An adverse drug reaction is an expression that describes harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dosage. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs...
(sulfonamides can cause kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
s and changes in bone marrow
Bone marrow
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...
). Domagk's work on sulfonamides eventually led to the development of the antituberculosis drugs thiosemicarbazone and isoniazid
Isoniazid
Isoniazid , also known as isonicotinylhydrazine , is an organic compound that is the first-line antituberculosis medication in prevention and treatment. It was first discovered in 1912, and later in 1951 it was found to be effective against tuberculosis by inhibiting its mycolic acid...
, which helped to curb the epidemic of tuberculosis which swept Europe after World War II.
After the war, in 1947, Domagk was finally able to receive his Nobel Prize, but not the monetary portion of the prize due to the time that had elapsed.
He became FRS in 1959, his short biography was published by the Royal Society in 1964. He changed his focus to tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
against cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He continued to live and work in Wuppertal. Domagk died in Burgberg near Königsfeld, Schwarzwald
Königsfeld im Schwarzwald
Königsfeld im Schwarzwald is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is the northern most town of the district Schwarzwald Baar. Königsfeld has six boroughs . Founded in 1807, it is a centre of the Moravian Church...
.