Question

1. Who coined the term “Magic Bullets”, and what does it mean?

2. Explain how this action greatly promoted research and treatment of cancer patients.

Answer 1

1. Paul Ehrlich - A German Nobel laureate coined the term “Magic Bullets”.

According to him, “Magic Bullets” are chemicals that could be designed to kill specific microorganisms that cause disease without harming our body. Magic bullets are able to act on specific target just like a bullet fired from a gun to a specific target.

2. Research on the concept of magic bullet t led him to the obtain more knowledge on body's immune system and finally to the discovery of  Salvarsan or Arsphenamine, the first effective drug against Syphilis. It was Paul Elrich's idea that laid the foundation of chemotherapy.

Ideas provided by his research are used to develop effective and site-specific and target specific drug delivery against cancer. Eg, magnetic targeting, ultrasound targeting etc