The sulfonamide, or sulfa, drugs are a family of drugs which halt the growth of bacteria. Their discovery paved the way for cheap and effective treatment of frequently fatal bacterial infections, like pneumonia. Sulfanilamide, effective in the treatment of infections caused by Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Salmonella and Coccidia, is the parent compound from which many other sulfa drugs are derived. The most common use of sulfa drugs today is in the treatment of urinary tract infections.

Before 1932, no synthetic chemicals existed for the treatment of bacterial infections. A new therapeutic era was ushered in by the German chemist Gerhard Domagk when he began a systematic search for chemical substances which would kill bacteria within the human body. Domagk served as Director of the Laboratory for Experimental Pathology and Bacteriology at I.G. Farbenindustrie, a German dye cartel, where he tested the pharmacological properties of dyes synthesized by...