/oss/taxonomy/term/1709/all en /oss/article/history-general-science/black-goo-blue-dye-and-beyond-fascinating-history-aniline <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-from-black-goo-to-blue-dye-and-beyond-the-fascinating-history-of-aniline">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>During the Second World War, American soldiers carried a first aid kit attached to their belt that contained a powder to be sprinkled on any open wound to prevent infection. That powder was sulfathiazole, synthesized by chemists from aniline, then already a compound of great commercial importance with a fascinating history.</p> Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:06:17 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10016 at /oss /oss/article/medical-student-contributors-history/fighting-fire-fire-how-nobel-prize-winning-scientists-used-malaria-cure-syphilis <p>The history of science is full of disproved experiments, revised textbooks, and rewritten hypotheses. Even Nobel prize-winning research, which is often viewed as the best work science has to offer, can fall by the wayside. One example is the 1927 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1927/wagner-jauregg/biographical/">Julius Wagner-Jauregg</a> for treating syphilis by infecting patients with malaria.</p> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 23:42:54 +0000 Maya McKeown, B.Sc. 9651 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/malaria-reason-behind-gin-and-tonic <p>Malaria kills around <a href="https://www.who.int/malaria/en/">400 thousand individuals annually</a>. It’s the result of a bodily infection by single-celled parasitic organisms from the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmodium"> </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmodium"><i>Plasmodium</i></a> genus and causes fever, vomiting, chills and body aches. There is some good news though.</p> Thu, 27 Sep 2018 16:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7368 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-drugs-health-news/goldenseal <p>During the Civil War northern forces blocked a number of Confederate ports. One of the consequences of the blockade was a dire shortage of cinchona bark imported from South America. The bark was in great demand, being the first substance ever found to be an effective treatment for malaria. Quinine, first isolated in 1820 was the active ingredient. Because of a lack of quinine, word went out from the surgeon general of the Confederate army asking that a search be launched for any native plants that might have fever reducing properties similar to cinchona.</p> Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:20:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2157 at /oss