Medical Advancements of the 1950's
BIRTH CONTROL PILLS |
During the 1950s scientists also discover a way to synthesize the antibiotic penicillin, a wonder drug that saved thousands of American lives from infections that used to be deadly. The social effect of medicine transformed in the 1950s with the creation of hormonal birth control for women. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood fought for birth control to be available to all women during the 1950s because of this invention. This paves the way for the still ongoing legal battles over reproductive rights.
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CHEMOTHERAPY |
Another killer, cancer, saw a dramatic series of treatments developed during the 1950s. While modern chemotherapy began during World War II, the 1950s saw the first real clinical steps towards modern and effective cancer treatment. This is in part due to the broader understanding of DNA and its role in biology. While human understanding of genetics accelerated by the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics in the in the early 20th century, the double helix structure and mechanisms of the human genetic code are not discovered until the 1950s. This will lay the groundwork for many of the most important medical discoveries of the 20th century and onwards.
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