Influential doctors of the past 100 years

One of the significant reasons people become doctors is the value they bring to society by saving lives. Let's talk today about those influential doctors of the past 100 years who brought innovative solutions to medicine.

Georges Mathé - discovered the treatment for leukemia ??

Leukemia is known as one of the most dangerous types of cancer since it does not form a tumor in a specific place. Instead, cancer cells circulate in the blood due to mutations that have arisen in the bone marrow. As is always the case, the cure for this disease was first found in animals. Georges Mathé worked on bone marrow transplantation in animals in the 1950s, and the results of his research demonstrated that mutations in the bone marrow could be resolved by transplantation. But the human body is not like other species; each species has its own mechanisms of work of the immune system.?However, a solution was found. 8 years later, a group of physicists was exposed to radiation, and Georges Mathé performed a bone marrow transplant. The results showed how the donor genes oppose the recipient.?Seeing the potential in this experiment, in 1978, Georges Mathé began immunizing his patients, primarily children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with allogeneic cancer cells.?The results of his work were amazing, and treatment for leukemia was found.?As a result, this therapy is now available for people with leukemia. Georges Mathé is a man who cured a disease that was considered fatal for many centuries.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn - discovered the mechanism of work of telomeres. ??

Since ancient times, people have been looking for a path to immortality. Many alchemists dedicated their lives to this. But is it possible to become biologically immortal? This question can be answered by Elizabeth H. Blackburn, winner of The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009. Unfortunately, we cannot be immortal as our genes are programmed for natural death. With every DNA replication, it is very important to preserve the genetic code. To protect this code, each chromosome has a special section of DNA - the telomere. Unfortunately, this area shrinks with each replication, leading to natural cell death. This mechanism of work of telomeres and protein synthesizing, telomerase, was found by Elizabeth H. Blackburn. Therefore, she can tell you that immortality is impossible. But who knows, maybe we can change how telomeres work, but that's another story.

Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka - discovered that adult cells can be pluripotent by reprogramming?

One of the solutions to the problem of a shortage of donor organs is 3D printing or growing organs from a stem cell. It seems like an ideal solution, but in reality, it has a diversity of pitfalls. The potency of stem cells is decreasing with the age of the patient, requiring them to get stem cells from the embryo. However, there is an ethical issue of destroying an embryo to treat people since the embryo is also a human being in the biological term. Unexpectedly, the solution was found by Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka. These researchers have found a way to reprogram adult cells to make them pluripotent, which allows them to differentiate the functionality of stem cells without using embryos. Thus, thanks to these two people, it will be possible to grow donor organs or print them without ethical dilemmas.?

What influential people in medicine do you know, or what contribution does your work bring to medicine?

This article is a part of the series by Medtop and further publications regarding this topic will be continued during this week and new topics will be published further in upcoming weeks. Comment, give your reactions, and share to reach more people. #Medtopstories

Join the Medtopians community to increase your network and cooperate with innovative workers in the field of medicine, and get access to exclusive content from Medtop.?