I am in this medical field since almost 7 years. I had heard the name British Anti Lewisite which is used as a chelator in treatement of Heavy metal poisoning like arsenic, mercury etc., But I never got the time to know the history part that why is this chemical which is dimercaprol; [2,3-dimercaptopropanol] called so!
Recently I attended a lecture where the history was revealed and it caught my attention and made me feel that its worth to put it on my blog.
Lewisite, an organo arsenic poison [combination of acetylene and arsenic trichloride], is a vesicant and lung irrtant. It is named after 'Winford Lee Lewis', a chemist and a soldier in American Army. In 1918 he found the thesis of Julius Arthur Nieuwland at Maloney Hall, a chemical laboratory at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC. His brain was so much oriented towards World war I that he proposed the compound to be used as a Biochemical Weapon!!! Cruel mind... They started to produce the product, Lewisite, in huge quantities at a plant in Cleveland, Ohio. The formula was borrowed by the Japanese who proved more cruel by improving the formula by mixing Mustard Gas with Lewsite, a mixture which could be used as a inhalant at lower temperatures and definitely more poisonous. This was the birth of LEWISITE in WWI. The rediscovery of Lewisite in 1918 was too late for its use as a chemical warfare agent in WWI. However, the allied forces were well-aware of its existence at the start of WWII.
Then, Britishers, who were much worried of this compound were compelled to do research. British biochemists, under supervision of Sir Rudolph Peters at Oxford University during World War II, discovered an antidote for Lewsite, Dimercaprol aka BAL [British Anti Lewisite]. This was all done secretly in order to counter the attack with Lewisite but proved to be a helpful invention as BAL is now used in various heavy metal poisonings.
In mid 2006, China and Japan were negotiating disposal of stocks of lewisite in northeastern China, left by Japanese military during World War II. Residents of China have died over the past twenty years from accidental exposure to these stockpiles.
Some of the statments here are borrowed from Wikipedia. And few from the lectures. I never realised the history of a drug would be so interesting. I will try to add few more interesting stuff whenever I come across!
Human brain...phew... Accidental discoveries prove worthwhile whereas intended discoveries prove disastrous!
Relevance of Horror in Literature
5 years ago
super....much better than the mid-october sob stories. way to go...
ReplyDeletemaybe you can come up with a novel about people getting exposed to old forgotten stockpiles of lewisite and how the government tries to deny the existence of such a thing...
Phew! That's some brain feed now! Hope to see more of this stuff! Now, you actually sound like a Doctor :P Good one!
ReplyDelete@RR: Hey you liked it! I just didn wann my blog to reflect a medical journal. he he.. anyways I will try to add few more interesting topics like this!
ReplyDelete@DK: Me and a novel! No way! Ofcourse, the topic may be picked up by some one and developed into a super hit novel. But I would demand to see my name in acknowledgement of that novel. He he he..
ReplyDeleteWhoa! That was some story!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting indeed.
I recently read Amitav Ghosh's novel - The Calcutta Chromosome. It's mostly about how the cure for Maleria was invented (or discovered?), for which Ronald Ross got the Nobel. It's something similar to the one you have written - accidental discovery. Funny and weird and interesting, aren't they?
Nice post, maga. Keep coming up with such stories. :-)
@karthik: Sure dude.. I will try to keep adding some interesting matter!
ReplyDelete