Who is Barry Marshall?
Barry Marshall is an Australian physician who, with pathologist Robin Warren, discovered that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes most stomach ulcers. The pair shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Before their discovery, most doctors believed that stomach ulcers were caused by stress, spicy food and excess acid. Patients were often treated with antacids or surgery, and ulcers frequently returned.
Working in Perth in the early 1980s, Marshall and Warren found spiral-shaped bacteria in the stomachs of patients with gastritis and ulcers. Many in the medical community were skeptical of their findings.
Drinking the bacteria
In 1984, to prove the bacteria caused disease, Marshall drank a culture of Helicobacter pylori. Within days, he developed gastritis, an inflammation of the stomach lining, which supported the theory.
Their discovery transformed the treatment of ulcers, which can now often be cured with antibiotics. It also helped researchers understand the link between H. pylori infection and some stomach cancers.
Marshall was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in 1951. He has continued research at the University of Western Australia and has received many awards, including being named a Companion of the Order of Australia.
Did You Know?
Marshall's self-experiment is one of the most famous examples of self-experimentation in medical history.