Paul Ehrlich: Pathfinder in Cell Biology 1. Chronicle of His Life and Accomplishments in Immunology, Cancer Research, and Chemotherapy1: Paul Ehrlich's Recipe for Success: “Patience, Ability, Money and Luck”

Abstract

The paper reviews the life of Paul Ehrlich and his biomedical accomplishments in immunology, cancer research, and chemotherapy. Ehrlich achieved renown as an organic chemist, histologist, hematologist, immunologist, and pharmacologist. He disliked the formality of school but managed to excel in Latin and mathematics. His role model was an older cousin, Carl Welgert, who became a lifelong friend. Ehrlich studied medicine at Breslau, Strasbourg, Freiburg, and Leipzig, coming under the influence of Wilhelm Waldeyer, Julius Cohnheim, Rudolf Heidenhein, and Ferdinand Cohn. As a medical student, Ehrlich was captivated by structural organic chemistry and dyes. When he was 23, his first paper was published on selective staining. His doctoral thesis, “Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Histological Staining” contained most of the germinal ideas that would guide his future career. Most of his early work was centered in Berlin at Charité Hospital, where he did pioneering studies on blood and intravital staining, and at Robert Koch's Institute for Infectious Diseases, where he undertook important investigations in Immunology. Ehrlich became an authority on antitoxin standardization and developed the “side-chain theory” of antibody formation for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize. He became director of an Institute for Experimental Therapy in Frankfurt where he continued research in immunology and carried out routine serum testing. He developed new lines of investigation in cancer research and originated the field of chemotherapy. Using principles developed in his early work with dyes, he successfully treated certain experimental trypanosomal infections with azo dyes. His crowning accomplishment was discovering that the compound Salvarsan could control human syphilis. Ehrlich's legacy in immunology and chemotherapy is discussed and an intimate portrait is drawn of Ehrlich the person.