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You are here: Home / Science / Who Was Paul Ehrlich and Why Is Paul Ehrlich Considered the Founder of Modern Hematology?

Who Was Paul Ehrlich and Why Is Paul Ehrlich Considered the Founder of Modern Hematology?

July 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

Paul Ehrlich was born in Strehlin, Germany, in 1854.

He received his medical degree from the University of Leipzig in 1878, but he was much more interested in research than opening up a practice.

At the time, French chemist Louis Pasteur and German bacteriologist Robert Koch were each discovering the role bacteria played in disease, but Ehrlich was the first to think of chemistry in relation to medicine.

Ehrlich was fascinated by dyes and how they could be used to stain certain tissues and cells in the body.

Ehrlich’s idea was that if a chemical like a dye could combine only with certain cells, then a chemical like a drug could combine only with disease-causing cells, like bacteria.

The drug could then kill the bacteria without harming the tissue around it, like a “magic bullet.”

It was the beginning of chemotherapy, the treatment of disease using drugs.

A few photograph of Paul Ehrlich shows him working with test tubes in the early 1900s. His research made antibiotics and chemotherapy possible and practical.

In his cellular research, Ehrlich discovered six different blood cell types. Because of this, he is considered the founder of modern hematology, the study of blood.

Related Facts

  • Where do Germs, Bacteria, and Viruses come from and How do they make us sick?
  • Who Discovered Antibiotics and How do Antibiotics kill infectious organisms without harming the human host?
  • How Did Paul Ehrlich Create the First Synthetic Antibiotic Drug and Who Coined the Term Chemotherapy?
  • How Did Antibodies Help Paul Ehrlich Discover His Magic Bullets and Develop His Side Chain Theory?
  • Who Discovered Cell Division and How do chromosomes split so that cells can divide to produce new cells?
  • Who Discovered Blood Plasma and How does separating red blood cells and plasma extended the shelf life?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Did the Cell Theory Originate and How Did Physician Rudolf Virchow Help Pioneer the Science of Pathology?
Next Post: Who Was Madame Curie and How Many Nobel Prizes Was Marie Curie Awarded For Her Contributions To Science? »

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