So, who’s afraid of needles?
First off, I’ll have to make a confession: I’m terribly, all-encompassingly lazy. Thus, while simultaneously studying for a handful of exams, I also try to be efficient. And this blog post will be my victim, since today I am writing a bit about Colin Murdoch, pharmacist, veterinarian, inventor.
Although Mr. Murdoch made some significant inventions, I cannot say I had heard of him before selecting my topics for our final oral exam. Even worse, the amount of material on him on the world wide web is disappointingly low, as well, which leads me to suspect that he might not be the most well-known of inventors, unlike, say, Thomas Edison. And yet, I dare say the disposable syringe is roughly equal in importance to today’s society as the (now outdated) incandescent light bulb. Disposable syringes? They are not nearly as every day-life as light bulbs, true. But without Colin Murdoch and his invention, 30 to 40 percent of the world’s population might be infected with HIV today. So, yeah, pretty significant I’d say.
But Colin Murdoch’s ingenuity wasn’t limited to his most famous invention. Born in Christchurch on February 6, 1929, as the son of a pharmacist, he had difficulties in school due to dyslexia. However, his technical skill and passion for chemistry also showed at an early age, when he made his own gunpowder and built his own gun at the age of 10. Ironically, he would later invent a mechanism for childproof containers.
After studying at the College of Pharmacy in Wellington and a five-year apprenticeship, he followed his father’s footsteps and became a pharmacist. Concerned about transmitting infection by reusing glass hypodermic syringes (which might not have been properly sterilised each time), he formulated the idea of a disposable plastic syringe, which could be pre-filled for vaccination. When he took his design to the New Zealand Department of Health, however, it was dismissed as “too futuristic”. Nevertheless, his syringe was patented in 1956.
Three years later, the tranquiliser gun followed and, together with his syringe projectiles, made studying and monitoring wildlife much easier. In addition to that, a co-operation with pharmaceutical companies resulted in the development of safer tranquilising drugs for animals, since the only ones available during the 1950s were a form of nicotine or a form of curare, which were not exactly ideal. Stress and shock reactions of the animal being tranquilised could also influence the effect of the drugs. For that, too, Murdoch came up with a solution. Literally. (I swear, the pun was not intended, but I’m keeping it.) If provided with an electrolyte solution after immobilization, the animal’s stress reactions could be minimized and this method is still used in surgery on infants and elderly patients.
Apparently, there is also no rest for the genius. In 1966, several patents were granted to Murdoch: a silent burglar alarm, new electric wiring system and fire detecting heat cells could (and would) be combined to alarm systems which automatically place calls to the police and/or fire department.
Colin Murdoch continued to invent in the service of humanity and a total of 46 patents are registered to his name. Unfortunately, though, he never became rich. He did not pursue patent violation in court, because, on the one hand, he thought that it would be wrong to do so if the (unlawful) applicationof his patents was beneficial to humans and/or animals, and on the other hand, he pointed out that having the right does not necessarily coincide with having the means, as suing was just too expensive.
Luckily, his achievements did not go completely unrewarded: he was featured in Time Magazine’s “The Most Influential People of the South Pacific” edition of 1999 and was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2000. He died of cancer on May 4, 2008.
