LOUIS PASTEUR: the man who built the foundation for the science of microbiology and modern medicine

Oct 20, 2014 Ruchira Dhoke Amazing Facts, Lifestyle & Health 0

Very small (micro) living (bio) organisms which cannot be seen by an unaided eye are called as micro-organisms or microbes It was Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s who discovered them in 1675, using a microscope of his own design. Yet it took nearly 200 years for scientists to make the connection between microbes and disease. They are everywhere in the environment, all around us, trillions and trillions of them.

Not all microorganisms cause disease and live symbiotically but the ones that cause disease or infection are called “pathogens”. Pathogens are more commonly called “germs”. Germs can be classified into four major groups: Virus, Bacteria, Fungi, and Parasites.

The Germ theory states that diseases are caused by the presence and actions of specific micro-organisms

The laboratory researches of Louis Pasteur in the 1860s that provided the scientific proof for germ theory. His work opened the door to research for identification of disease-causing germs and their potential life-saving treatment. The legend whose name is forever cemented in the history of medicine was born in 1822 in Dole, France.

Louis Pasteur was a Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Lille when he was approached by a man who worked at a factory that produced beer from sugar beets. The businessman complained that the vats of the fermented beer were turning sour and asked Pasteur to find out the cause.

Pasteur by using a microscope analyzed the beer samples and found thousands of microorganisms. His theory said that microbes or “germs” were not the result of the beer going sour, rather they were the cause. His experiments with liquids proved that micro- organisms could cause petrifaction of liquids and that it could be prevented by killing them by heating. Thus “pasteurized milk” was discovered and named under his honor.

Up to 1865, Pasteur’s work only involved beer, wine and milk. He was asked to investigate his first disease called pébrine that affected the silk worm industry in 1865. In a year he established the fact that the disease was caused by a living organism and could also affect humans as well.

Hence, “the germ theory”.

He was also responsible for a very significant discovery in the field of preventive medicine. It was the method for the attenuation of virulent micro-organisms, the basis of vaccination. He successfully developed vaccines against diseases like chicken cholera, anthrax and swine erysipelas. On July 6, 1885, Pasteur tested his pioneering rabies treatment on man for the first time saving the young Joseph Meister.

Pasteur is the representative of revolution in scientific methodology

He superimposed two indisputable rules of modern research: the freedom of creative imagination necessarily subjected to rigorous experimentation.

He would teach his disciples:

Do not put forward anything that you cannot prove by experimentation

In 1891, the first Foreign Institute Pasteur was founded in Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) launching what was to become a vast international network of Institute Pasteur.

Even though he was criticized for his work, Louis Pasteur was a humanist who always worked towards the improvement of the mankind and their living conditions.

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Ruchira Dhoke

A qualified medical microbiologist with an avidity to read enchant a deep passion for creating a good impacting masterpiece with my words .I am very fond of good old English literature and like listening to music and paint in my free time.