Paul Hermann Müller Biography

Paul Hermann Muller was a Swiss Chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of a form of DDT which could kill insects when they came into contact with it. Though DDT had been available since 1873 it had to be ingested by the insects to be effective like all other insecticides till that time. This was an important discovery as DDT was used to kill mosquitoes carrying the malaria virus and helped save a large number of Allied soldiers fighting in the Far East. The shirts of the American and British troops were impregnated with DDT. The first large scale use of DDT was made in Naples, Italy, in 1943 to check a typhus epidemic which could be brought under control within three weeks of using the chemical. The biggest success of this chemical was its ability to reduce the incidence of malaria in different parts of the world by killing the mosquitoes that carried the germ. He developed substances for the tanning of leather that were synthetic in nature but produced fast colors. He also found out methods to conserve hides and to make wool and textile resistant to moths. His interest in botany also helped him discover a seed dressing which was free from mercury and helped the Swiss farmers.