[The first to go--physicians who experimented on themselves].

Since ancient times, there have been rules for experiments on humans. Some have claimed that if one thinks an experiment might involve danger, it should first be tried out on oneself. There are, in fact, numerous examples of doctors who have undergone daring experiments on themselves. Among them are Max von Pettenkofer, who drank cholera bacteria, Werner Forssmann who catheterized his own heart, John Paul Stapp, who sat in a rocket sled at almost the speed of sound, and then made an abrupt stop. Doctors from Walter Reed's research team infected themselves with yellow fever, Erik Jacobsen demonstrated the effect of antabuse and alcohol on himself, Barry J. Marshall drank helicobacter pylori bacteria, Klaus Hansen drank heavy water, and Ole Jakob Malm transplanted foreign tissue onto his own skin in order to discern among different tissue types. This article describes these various experiments, why they were done, and their consequences. The perspective of ethics in such experimental research is briefly discussed.