Take Two Elements, Call me in the Morning

     The elements in the periodic table are sometimes very complicated. They can be both toxic and life saving, depending on the circumstances. Two elements that have antiseptic powers are silver and copper, with copper being more common. It was used after America's bicentennial in 1976 when a plague broke out in a hotel in Philadelphia, with 34 dead. Copper was the simplest and cheapest way to improve conditions in the hotel. When certain fungi, bacteria, or algae come into contact with it, they absorb copper atoms, which disrupts their metabolism, and after a few hours they die. This is why many things in public places, including coins, contain mostly copper.
     Another elements, gadolinium, has become very useful in detecting tumors in MRI machines. (See video below!) It also might just be able to help provide a way to kill tumors with intense radiation. Its unpaired electrons allow it to absorb scads of neutrons, which turns it radioactive. When it goes nuclear, it shreds the tissue around it and inhibits proteins that repair DNA, so cancer cells can't rebuild their chromosomes. The problem is it can cause kidney problems, stiffening of the muscles, hardening of the skin, and breathing difficulties.
     The first genuine antibacterial drug, called prontosil, was created by Gerhard Domagk. He began quietly experimenting with it and on December 20, 1932, he injected mice with an infection caused by streptococcal bacteria, which had also infected his daughter, Hildegard, early December 1935. There were two litters, one of which had been injected with a red industrial dye Domagk had been experimenting with. On Christmas Eve, he checked the mice and found the ones injected with the dye living, while the others were dead. When his daughter's incident came up, he reached a dilemma: does he risk his daughter's life with a chance that she be cured? As her health spiraled downward, Domagk couldn't stop from thinking about the mice experiment. When her doctor announced he had to amputate her arm, he put all worries aside and injected her with the serum. Within the first couple of weeks, she worsened. But exactly 3 years after Domagk's mouse experiment, she stabilized, and she would be able to live with both arms intact. Afterwards, the drug finally went to clinical trials and it soon became a huge revelation.
     After it hit the market, it wasn't very popular. It finally gained recognition in 1936 when it cured Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. of a sever case of strep throat. However, when it was traced through the body, scientists found that it was actually a derivative of prontosil, sufonamide, that fought off bacteria. Sulfonamide is produced when mammal cells split prontosil in two, and it disrupts the production of a nutrient cells use to replicate DNA and reproduce. Thus, a Frenchman who worked on this proved that Domagk had discovered a bacteria birth control, not a bacteria killer. In 1939 he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his research, but Hitler hated this and had Domagk arrested and brutalized. He redeemed himself a little after convincing the Nazis that his drug could save soldiers with gangrene. But an even worse situation, people became obsessed with it and wanted it for every little sore throat and sniffle. This went even further downhill when quick-buck salesmen sold sulfas sweetened with antifreeze. This just proves how some people have no boundaries.