10 Everyday Inventions That Exist Thanks To War
2. Chemotherapy
Few weapons were as appalling in use as the mustard gas deployed by both sides during the First World War. This foul concoction causes blistering in the lungs when breathed in, causing the the damaged lung tissues to produce fluid and drowning the victim.
If it doesn't kill, it incapacitates by causing severe skin burns, huge fluid-filled blisters and temporary (if you're lucky) blindness. It's difficult to imagine a substance that is less of a medicine than mustard gas.
After the First World War, autopsies of soldiers killed by mustard gas showed it damaged the body's capacity to produce white blood cells. Further research into chemical weapons during World War II suggested it could do the same thing to cancer cells.
A chemical derived from mustard gas became the first chemotherapy drug and was used experimentally in 1942, completing a bizarre journey from weapon to treatment.