A random anecdote.

Yet further proof that hindsight is 20/20. The 1948 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to a Swiss chemist by the name of Paul Muller. His discovery: dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, or DDT. Although very effective in controlling mosquitoes and hence diseases borne by them, such as malaria, overuse by large scale farming operations led DDT to be banned pretty much everywhere. Bans on DDT have, however contributed to huge increases in malaria, particularly in central Africa (see July's National Geographic). But considering that Alfred Nobel's original claim to fame was a process for stabilizing nitroglycerin (used primarily in very dangerous mining operations - you've all seen the heritage moment) into a stable solid form, TNT (the first mass-produced high explosive), irony seems to have dogged the man's steps ever since.