Why did a scientist drink a glass of bacteria to win a Nobel Prize?
The Brave Gulp
Why did a scientist drink a glass of bacteria to win a Nobel Prize?
Picture a scientist lifting a cloudy glass to his lips — on purpose, with a crowd of doubters watching. Inside that glass swam millions of bacteria. He drank it down like a toast. Why on earth would anyone do that? Because he was trying to win an argument that the whole world had wrong.
His name was Barry Marshall, and the argument was about stomach ulcers — painful little sores in the lining of the stomach. For a hundred years, doctors were certain they knew the cause: stress and spicy food. Relax, eat blander meals, they said. Take this antacid. The ulcers, annoyingly, kept coming back.
