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What did Ehrlich do? 4 marks
Paul Ehrlich was a German scientist who joined the team of Robert Koch
in the Industrial Revolution time period. He was most renowned for his
work in the fields of anti-bodies in the human body and his main
achievement occurred in 1911.
Ehrlich main achievement was the creation of the ‘Magic Bullet’ Salverson
606 which produced a cure for syphilis. Ehrlich believed that it was
possible to produce a chemical substance, a ‘magic bullet’ that could work
alongside the bodies natural anti-bodies, killing specific bacteria without
harming the rest of the body. It was called Salverson 606 as it was the
606 compound that was tested before success was found. The work of
Ehrlich can therefore been seen as a turning point in the history of
medicine as it was the first success in curing a disease rather than just
preventing it. Ehrlich developed this further finding the cure for
diphtheria, re-enforcing his status as an important person in the history
of medicine.
Mark Scheme
Target – To show you understand the role of a key person in Medicine
Level 1: Answer will show the candidate recognises the person but
answer is simple with limited detail. Answer is simple statements or
description that might be listed, eg. Briefly who the person was and what
they did and simple understanding of their impact. (1 – 2 marks)
Level 2: Answer will explain and show detailed understanding of the role
of the key person in the development of understanding of disease and
infection and put it into the big picture (context). Statements are
developed with specific examples that relate to what the person did and
why they were important in medicine (3 – 4 marks).