Alice Ball and her “Ball Method”

Humanity has been affected by leprosy for thousands of years. It is believed that an account about leprosy appears in an Egyptian Papyrus document written around 1550 BC. Leprosy is an infection caused due to mycobacterium leprae (a bacteria). The nerves, skin, eyes and lining of the nose are generally affected. Affected areas may also lose the ability to sense touch and pain. A vaccine is not available for leprosy. The nerve damage can even result in paralysis of hands and feet if it is not treated. In early ages, leprosy could not be cured but could only be slowed down, as the bacteria could not be killed. The question is, how do we cure this disease?

Then in 1915, an effective treatment for leprosy was discovered by a 23-year-old laboratory researcher- Alice Ball who was the first woman to teach at the University of Hawaii. While teaching, Ball intended to purify the oil from the Chaulmoogra tree into chemical compounds (ethyl-esters) so that they could be successfully injected. Hence, there was a need to first convert the oil into fatty acids. At that time Ball had a eureka moment and she realized that the acid had to be frozen overnight in order to provide enough time for the esters to split apart, as well as to stop them from degrading at room temperature.

Alice Ball’s research paved the way for the creation of the first injectable leprosy treatment using oil from the Chaulmoogra tree. The oil had finally transformed into fatty acid components having different molecular weights. Ball could manipulate the fatty acid components into a water-soluble form (to inject it) due to their different molecular weights. Her rigour had helped her create this technique which was later called “Ball Method”. However, full credit was not given to her at that time. It was actually given to Arthur Dean. This is the reason it is also called the “Dean Method”. Due to this method, many leprosy patients were fully treated and this was only possible due to one woman-Alice Ball. She is one of the many women who continues to be a great example of woman power and the significant contributions made by them in multiple fields.

Alice Augusta Ball