Gerhard Domagk: The Antibacterial Avant-Garde

Gerhard Domagk was born in Germany, and aspired to be a physician from a very young age. However, World War I forced him to abandon his studies and serve as a medic. While posted in the Sanitary Service, he was exposed to the plight of soldiers dealing with infectious diseases like cholera and typhus. Even radical treatment like amputation was often followed by deadly bacterial infections.

While conducting research in the pathological anatomy and bacteriology laboratories of I.G. Farbenindustrie, Domagk made his most famous discovery in 1932. In collaboration with Fritz Mietzsch and Josef Klarer, he worked on finding effective substitutes for natural treatments for bacterial diseases. According to Domagk, a drug’s role was to interact with the immune system, either strengthening it, or weakening the infectious agent so it can be overpowered by the body. While experimenting with azo dyes, they found a sulfonamide compound that showed extraordinary antibacterial effects (against staphylococci and haemolytic streptococci) on bacterial mice. Named prontosil rubrum, it was patented as Prontosil and earned him the Nobel for Physiology or Medicine in 1939.

Though not completely satisfied with the effectiveness of this drug, Domagk, in desperation, administered it to his own daughter when she became fatally ill with a streptococcal infection. He omitted mentioning her complete recovery in the reports, instead waiting for the results of the clinical study. In the following years, a lot of research was done on this class of compounds, and resulted in many more antibacterial sulfanilamide derivatives. Domagk gave surgery a whole new arsenal of weapons with which to tackle bacterial infections.

Other notable work of his was on the therapy of tuberculosis, producing isoniazid - one of the most reliable antitubercular drugs, and the therapeutic value of the quarternary ammonium bases. Until his death in 1964, he devoted himself to the experimental (chemotherapeutic) study of carcinoma and disseminating that knowledge to students.