Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), German bacteriologist. After obtaining his medical degree at Leipzig (1878), Ehrlich worked with Emil Adolf von Behring to find a cure for diphtheria. In 1892 he succeeded in producing a serum that was active against diphtheria, using antibodies formed by animals inoculated against the disease. After this Ehrlich concentrated on finding chemical stains that could be used to destroy disease-causing germs. He succeeded in discovering one, trypan red, which killed the parasites causing sleeping sickness. His major achievement, however, was the discovery of a compound, called salvarsan that destroyed syphilis germs. This major breakthrough was announced to the world in 1910. Ehrlich received a Nobel Prize in 1908.
