Genetic Tools and Techniques

Gerhard J. Domagk uses a chemically synthesized anti-metabolite, Prontosil, to kill Streptococcus in mice. One of the first patients to be treated with Protonsil is Domagk’s daughter who has a streptococcal infection that is unresponsive to other treatments. Near death, she is injected with large quantities of Protonsil and makes a dramatic recovery. Domagk is awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1939.

More Information:

Domagk, G. J. 1935. Ein Beitrag zur Chemotherapie der bakteriellen infektionen. Dtsch. med. Wochenschr. 61: 250-253. In Milestones in Microbiology: 1556 to 1940, translated and edited by Thomas D. Brock, ASM Press. 1998, p195 [pdf]