“Sometimes you can find what you are not looking for,” said Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician and bacteriologist. The Nobel Laureate knew exactly what he was talking about. He himself discovered a drug that revolutionized medicine by accident. Penicillin – because we are talking about it – is not the only substance that was invented by chance. The stories of the discoveries of some pharmaceuticals are as fascinating as they are terrifying …
- Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in a dusty, cramped laboratory on one of the “dirty” samples
- One of the most popular antidepressants was originally used as an anti-tuberculosis drug, and botox used to treat only eye diseases
- Viagra was supposed to be a blood pressure medication
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
Penicillin
As with great discoveries, the history of penicillin has already become legendary. Regardless of its details, however, it is certain that without Alexander Fleming’s extreme vigilance, penicillin and the knowledge of its healing effects would have ended up in the bin. And it is literally.
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One day in 1928, a scientist working at St. Mary’s Hospital in London enters the laboratory to put it in order. The room is in disarray. The trainee pathologist Merlin Pryce, who was leaving in a hurry, did not even have the time to close some samples, which, exposed to contaminants from a dusty, cramped laboratory and flowing from outside through an open air window, began to “live their own lives”.
It is this “life” that attracts the attention of the Scottish physician. In one of the Petri dishes, between the yellowish colony of staphylococcus and Penicillium notepad, he notices a blue growth that seems to be killing the bacteria on the sample. He probably does not yet suspect that this observation will mark the beginning of the age of antibiotics, but is conscious enough to note the discovery and pay more attention to it. It will be several years before it proves that penicillin G has a strong bactericidal effect and is at the same time safe for humans. When he succeeds, he learns that there is not enough money for further research.
Only Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, a British-Australian duo of scientists who studied the antibacterial properties of various substances in the 30s, found the money for more extensive experiments. Thanks to grants and a research grant, they isolated penicillin, tested it in animals, and started producing it. In 1945, together with Fleming, they received the Nobel Prize for their work.
Insulin
The highest scientific distinction also went to scientists who distinguished and indicated the clinical use of another important substance (or rather a hormone) – insulin, although its discovery by Frederick Banting and Charles Best is not so obvious. Apparently, their work – although groundbreaking and having a huge impact on the development of medicine, and above all the treatment of diabetes – would not have advanced if not for the observations of their colleagues who, several decades earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic, observed … the pancreas.
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Joseph von Mering and Oscar Minkowski conducted a rather brutal experiment in 1889, removing this organ from a healthy dog. Their goal was to study the role of the pancreas in the digestive process. A few days after the operation, the scientists were surprised to notice that a swarm of flies was feeding over the pool of urine. Curious to see what attracted insects, they tested the urine and found it was high in sugar. Since the dog was perfectly healthy before pancreatic removal, they concluded that the diabetes must have appeared later and that it was probably caused by surgery. After further testing, they found that the pancreas secretes a substance that controls blood sugar metabolism. It was insulin.
Interestingly, Banting – a practicing orthopedic surgeon – did not plan to study diabetes at all in his research work. While preparing for his lecture on the pancreas, however, he came across an article by Mering and Minkowski summarizing their observations, and… he was hooked. Along with his assistant (Best) and later biochemist James Collip, he spent a whole summer extracting a mysterious substance. When this was successful, the action began and insulin was administered to a diabetic patient. The 14-year-old boy with severe ketoacidosis immediately improved insulin has quickly become one of the most coveted drugs in the world.
Iproniazyd
Though considered to be the first antidepressant, this organic chemical originally cured a completely different disease. Iproniazid was the basis of a popular anti-tuberculosis drug, the first phase of which was tested in a sanatorium in New York. Its residents suffered from tuberculosis – their condition was very bad, and doctors – largely due to the lack of an effective remedy for the disease – saw little chance of their recovery. Testing a new drug could hardly harm them any more. What was the surprise of the medical staff when patients not only stopped complaining about some ailments and started gaining strength (mainly due to returning appetite), but also began to enjoy life. Reportedly, tuberculosis, after taking a drug containing iproniazid, got up from bed, played cards, and even… danced.
The facts were quickly brought together. The new drug not only cures tuberculosis, but also has a positive effect on the mental state.
Its mechanism of action was discovered by a Swiss chemist – Albert Zeller. The researcher noticed that the compound inhibits the activity of monoamine oxidase (MAO) – an enzyme that plays a very important role in the regulation of the central nervous system. Iproniazid quickly won the recognition of patients with depression, but ultimately access to it was significantly limited due to the side effects it caused – mainly liver damage.
Botulinum
From poison to medicine – this is how you can summarize the history of botulinum toxin, which, thanks to the development of aesthetic medicine, is commonly known as a preparation containing botulinum toxin – botox. For centuries, the substance was known only for its highly poisonous properties, being a frequent cause of poisoning, even leading to death. It took a long time for researchers to determine what dose of botulinum toxin was safe enough for the paralysis of the muscle it causes to be curative, not lethal.
The first attempts to use botulinum toxin in therapeutic therapy (the potential of the substance were first discovered by ophthalmologists) took place at the beginning of the 60th century, but only the XNUMXs brought a breakthrough in its application. Alan Scott and Edward Schantz – American scientists from San Francisco – worked on the inoperable treatment of strabismus. Their attention was drawn to the microorganisms of Clostridium botulinum, which produce botulinum toxin. It turned out that a small amount of bacteria is enough to reduce the eye muscle spasm. These findings were quickly backed up by research, and the use of botulinum toxin was extended to the treatment of many other ailments, including facial spasms, cervical dystonia or hyperhidrosis.
Botulinum toxin came to aesthetic medicine clinics thanks to the vigilance of a medical couple – plastic surgeon Jean Carruther and her husband, Alistair Carruthers, a dermatologist. The couple noticed that the use of botulinum toxin, including in people with eye spasm, it makes the skin firmer in the area where the substance is injected (between the eyebrows) and wrinkles are smoothed. Admittedly, a few more years had to pass before botox became a full-fledged preparation that allowed to reduce the skin deepening, but nothing could stop the revolution.
Warfarin
An interesting history is also behind warfarin – a derivative of coumarin, inhibiting the formation of the active form of vitamin K. This organic chemical compound is used as an anticoagulant drug, although previously it was commonly used as … rat poison.
But before warfarin became the rodent’s number one enemy, the chemical responsible for causing bleeding had to be discovered. Some important observations were made already in the early 20s. During an epidemic of atypical cattle haemorrhagic disease, it was noticed that animals consumed clover silage that was covered in mold. Years later (in 1933) it was examined and it was discovered that the haemorrhagic factor was dicoumarol, an anti-vitamin K vitamin. The compound was quickly synthesized, and its derivatives – including warfarin – were used as a drug preventing blood clotting.
Viagra
The side effect of the drug is also the source of the famous Viagra, or actually sildenafil. The substance was to be used as a medicine for … hypertension.
The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which introduced the drug to the market, did not expect that the preparation would soon gain such popularitybut not because of its original precept. It turned out that sildenafil is great for erectile dysfunction.
The company did not waste time and quickly repositioned its brand, directing its resources to the promotion of a newly diagnosed disease and an effective drug against it. Interestingly, at the same time, she did not give up her plans and the product for hypertension – based on the same substance – under a changed name, in a different packaging, color and method of administration, also introduced it some time later to the market. Here is the proof that a chance discovery can be the beginning of a completely non-accidental success.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to the problems of the perineum – a part of the body just like any other. And although it concerns all of us, it is still a taboo subject that we are often ashamed to talk about. What do hormonal changes and natural births change? How not to harm the pelvic floor muscles and how to care for them? How do we talk about perineal problems with our daughters? About this and many other aspects of the problem in a new episode of the podcast.
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