The Demon Under the Microscope.THE DEMON UNDER THE MICROSCOPE THOMAS HAGER A century ago, physicians sought a way to overcome their helplessness against often-deadly infections. They found it during World War II in the form of sulfa drugs sulfa drugs a group of chemical compounds used as antibacterial agents; called also sulfonamides. , precursors to modern antibiotics. Hager, a science and medical writer, tells the compelling story of the discovery of this lifesaving treatment. The saga begins with Gerhard Domagk Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (October 30, 1895 – April 24, 1964) was a German pathologist and bacteriologist and Nobel laureate. Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg, the son of a school headmaster. , who as a field physician for the German army in World War I witnessed soldiers' deaths and then dedicated his life to finding a way to protect other soldiers against the ravages rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. of bacteria. His studies led to his eventual employment in the mid-1930s at the then-new pharmaceutical company Bayer, a subsidiary of the German company I.G. Farben. While there, he experimented with dyes as antibiotics and discovered that a dye component, sulfanilamide sul·fa·nil·a·mide n. A white, odorless crystalline sulfonamide used in the treatment of various bacterial infections. sulfanilamide , killed strep strep adj. Streptococcal. n. Streptococcus. and tuberculosis bacteria. Hager describes how chemists subsequently refined sulfa drugs to fight other types of infection and how this class of drugs changed medicine. Harmony, 2006, 340 p., hardcover, $24.95. |
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