Pasteur Biology. The cure for a deadly disease
On discoveries allegedly made by accident:
"Happiness smiles only on a well-prepared mind"
Louis Pasteur
French scientist, one of the founders of stereochemistry, microbiology and immunology. (Formally, he not had neither chemical, nor medical, nor biological education). Creator of the international scientific school microbiologists.
In 1848, while still a student, Louis Pasteur made his first discovery by discovering the optical asymmetry of tartaric acid molecules.
In 1857, Louis Pasteur discovered the cause of the fermentation process - it turned out that it is caused by the vital activity of microorganisms (before that, it was believed, in accordance with the views of an authoritative German chemist J. Liebig that this process is purely chemical in nature). In total, to study the processes of fermentation and decay, scientists were given 13 000 experiments.
"O Pasteur they remember that at dinner, even in the best houses, he brought plates and spoons to his very nose, examined them from all sides and wiped them with a napkin in order to accustom others to caution.
Goncharenko N.V., Genius in art and science, M., Art, 1991, p. 296.
In 1860-1862, the scientist experimentally refuted the then popular hypothesis of spontaneous generation of microorganisms.
In 1864, he proposed and patented (!) a method of disinfecting wine by heating it for a long time to 50-60 ° C, which bears the name "Pasteurization" in his honor. Being the owner of the patent, he offered everyone to get acquainted with the technology free of charge. And to perplexed questions: “Why did he draw up a patent if he is not going to use it?” - Louis Pasteur answered that he did not want some unscrupulous businessman, for his own benefit, not to receive a patent before him ... (formally, the patent owner has the right ban its use by others).
Alas, in 1868 Louis Pasteur there was a cerebral hemorrhage. He remained disabled: his left arm was inactive, his left leg dragged along the ground. He almost died. But! He made the most significant discoveries after that ... When the scientist died, it turned out that a huge part of his brain had been destroyed. “And - an exceptional and even unparalleled case: he lived to almost 74 years. That is, after the blow, he lived for more than 30 years, and in these 30 years he was distinguished by exceptional health and extraordinary nervous freshness. Moreover, the most valuable works and discoveries were made in this second half of the life of this brilliant man. Biographers casually point out that Pasteur, slowly recovering from a blow, overlaid himself with medical books from a home doctor to Smiles and, studying himself and his illness, managed to regain his health and youth step by step. True, until the end of his life, Pasteur dragged his left leg slightly, but there probably remained mechanical damage to the brain tissue, and it was beyond the power of a person to change.
Zoshchenko M.M. , Comments and articles on the story "Returned Youth", Collected Works in 2 volumes, Volume 2, Yekaterinburg "U-Factoria", 2003, p. 342-343.
In 1881, he proposed a method of vaccination - preventive vaccinations against infectious diseases using weakened cultures of the corresponding pathogens.
“The Pasteur Institute was founded in 1888 especially for Pasteur with funds raised by subscription in different countries ah, including in Russia. Pasteur managed to work for a short time at the new institute - by that time he was already very ill. In the basement of the institute, in the crypt where Pasteur is buried, the dates of all his works and discoveries are marked on the walls. And on the dome, to the image of three traditional angels - Faith, Hope and Love - a fourth one is added - Science. Animal figures are woven into the mosaic images decorating the chapel: a chicken and a rooster in memory of Pasteur's fight against chicken cholera; sheep that Pasteur cured of anthrax...
Pierre Grabar: “I love it when they sing and laugh in the laboratory. This means that everything is going well, ”in Sat: A Brief Moment of Triumph. About how they are made scientific discoveries/ Comp.: V. Chernikova, M., "Nauka", 1989, p. 243-244.
Louis Pasteur“... who began by studying the process of bacterial fermentation, dealt with this problem all his life and, although he was not a doctor, actually revolutionized medicine by demonstrating the wide participation of microorganisms in biological processes. He began by studying the process of grape fermentation and discovered that what he considered to be a "wine disease" was in fact caused by the enzymatic action of microorganisms. He then continued his search for microbes as possible cause diseases of silkworms and ultimately laid the foundations of clinical bacteriology. […] As said W. Lippman, “The genius of a true leader is to leave behind a situation that is accessible to common sense and not burdened by a touch of genius.”
Hans Selye, From Dream to Discovery: How to Become a Scientist, Moscow, Progress, 1987, p. fifty.
K.E. Tsiolkovsky:“The world has become normal. Colossi and luminaries human thought engulfed in small flames that clung to them from all sides, and the "criterion of the significance of a person" disappeared from the minds of most leaders. Already in the last century, they stopped distinguishing giants from pygmies. Fourty years tormented the great Pasteur, opposing his ingenious works to all small things like the mediocre Pouchet and a dozen of his kind. The French government saw Pasteur when he was over seventy years old. Such positions cannot be considered normal. And this happened in the most progressive, most advanced country of that time - France, where revolutionary ideas in all areas were quoted so highly! And it happened for the same reasons - small fry and mediocrity clogged all the roads to Science and followed the paths of geniuses. In this pit, which bears the high name of Science, the winner is the one who, thanks to his physical strength, dexterity and resourcefulness, climbs out to a higher level ... ".
Quoted from: Chizhevsky A.L., On the Shore of the Universe: Years of Friendship with Tsiolkovsky (memoirs), M., “Thought”, 1995, p. 697.
Louis Pasteur belongs to the expression about the importance of microorganisms in nature: "The infinitely large role of infinitely small beings."
"At Pasteur at a relatively early stage in his career, he suffered a hemorrhage in the right side of the brain, after which he was left with a slight left-sided paralysis-hemiplegia. After his death, his brain was examined, and it was found that Pasteur had such severe damage to the right side of the brain that, as they said, after this damage, "he had only half of the brain left." He had serious lesions of the parietal and temporal region. Nevertheless, after this injury, Pasteur made some of his most significant discoveries."
Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in Animal and Machine, in Sat: Information Society, M., "Ast", 2004, p.138.
The scientist had about 200 awards from around the world.
1. Introduction……………………………………………………….2
2. Biography of Louis Pasteur…………………………………………3
3. Works in the field of chemistry……………………………..............4
4. Pasteur fermentation .............................................. ...................5
5. The study of infectious diseases...............................................6
Introduction
Back in the 6th century BC. e. Hippocrates believed that infectious diseases were caused by invisible living beings. The first to see microbes was the Dutch naturalist Antonio Leeuwenhoek (1632 - 1723). Using the microscope he invented, he described them as "living animals" living in rainwater, plaque and other materials.
The discovery of A. Leeuwenhoek attracted the attention of other naturalists and served as the beginning of a morphological period in the history of medicine, which lasted about two centuries. The study of the biochemical activity of microorganisms marked the beginning of the rapid development of the general, and then medical microbiology, which is inextricably linked with the work of the outstanding scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). Pasteur's brilliant discoveries constituted a whole epoch in the development of microbiology and led to fundamental changes in biology and medicine. The significance of Pasteur's works can be judged by their title.
An exceptional role was played by those works of Pasteur, which laid the foundation of immunology and which made it possible to give a scientifically substantiated method of protective vaccinations. It is no coincidence that during one of the celebrations held in his honor, Pasteur was presented with an artistically executed vase, on which a syringe was depicted.
The struggle for human health and life was the main idea of the second half of the life of the great scientist, and it was the work in this area that ended in such a triumph that no scientist in the world knew.
Biography of Louis Pasteur.
Louis Pasteur (Louis Pasteur. 1822 - 1895) - an outstanding French scientist, chemist and microbiologist, the founder of scientific microbiology and immunology.
"Benefactor of mankind" - so they said about the French scientist Louis Pasteur.
Louis Pasteur was the son of a retired French soldier who owned a small tannery in the town of Dole. He spent his childhood in the small French village of Arbois. Louis was fond of drawing, was an excellent and ambitious student. He graduated from college, and then - a pedagogical school.
A career as a teacher attracted Pasteur. He liked to teach, and he was very early, even before receiving special education was appointed assistant teacher. But Louis' fate changed dramatically when he discovered chemistry and physics. Louis willingly took a great interest in these sciences. At school, he listened to lectures by Balard, and the famous chemist Dumas went to listen to the Sorbonne. Work in the laboratory captured Pasteur. In his enthusiasm for experiments, he often forgot about rest.
Pasteur gave up drawing and devoted his life to chemistry and fascinating experiments.
At the age of 36, he defended his doctoral dissertation, presenting two papers: on chemistry and physics of crystals. Pasteur's main discoveries were enzymatic lactic acid (1875), alcohol (1860) and oil (1861) fermentation, the study of the "diseases" of wine and beer (since 1875), as well as the refutation of the hypothesis of spontaneous generation of microorganisms (1860). The dates of these great discoveries are commemorated on a plaque in Pasteur's house in Paris, where his first laboratory was located.
Works in the field of chemistry
When Pasteur was about 26 years old, the young scientist gave an answer to a question that had remained unresolved before him. Despite the efforts of many prominent scientists. He discovered the reason for the unequal influence of a beam of polarized light on the crystals of organic substances. This outstanding discovery later led to the emergence of stereochemistry - the science of the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules.
Pasteur performed his first scientific work in 1848. He discovered that tartaric acid obtained during fermentation has optical activity - the ability to rotate the plane of polarization of light, while tartaric acid chemically synthesized and isomeric to it does not have this property. Studying crystals under a microscope, he singled out two types of them, which are, as it were, mirror images of each other. A sample consisting of crystals of one type rotated the plane of polarization clockwise, and the other - counterclockwise. A mixture of the two types 1:1, of course, did not have optical activity.
Pasteur came to the conclusion that crystals are composed of molecules of various structures. chemical reactions create both types with equal probability, but living organisms use only one of them.
“I found that tartaric or racemic acid is formed from the combination of one molecule of right tartaric acid (which is ordinary tartaric acid) and one molecule of left tartaric acid; both acids, being identical in all other respects, differ from one another in that the forms of their crystals cannot be superimposed on each other ... Each of them is a mirror image of the other. L. Pasteur
Thus, for the first time, the chirality of molecules (the property of a molecule to be incompatible with its mirror image by any combination of rotations and displacements in three-dimensional space) was shown. As it was discovered later, amino acids are also chiral, and only their L forms are present in living organisms (with rare exceptions). In some ways, Pasteur anticipated this discovery as well.
Louis Pasteur said: "Involved, or rather, forced by the logical development of my research, I moved from
crystallography and molecular chemistry to the study of causative agents of fermentation".
Fermentation according to Pasteur
Pasteur began studying fermentation in 1857. By 1861, Pasteur had shown that the formation of alcohol, glycerol, and succinic acid during fermentation could only occur in the presence of microorganisms, often specific ones.
Louis Pasteur proved that fermentation is a process closely related to the vital activity of yeast fungi, which feed and multiply due to the fermenting liquid. In clarifying this question, Pasteur had to refute Liebig's then dominant view of fermentation as a chemical process. Particularly convincing were Pasteur's experiments with a liquid containing pure sugar and various mineral salts, which served as food for the fermenting fungus, and ammonia salt, which supplied the necessary nitrogen to the fungus. The fungus developed, increasing in weight, and the ammonium salt was wasted. According to Liebig's theory, it was necessary to wait for a decrease in the weight of the fungus and the release of ammonia, as a product of the destruction of nitrogenous organic matter that makes up the enzyme.
Pasteur then showed that lactic fermentation also requires the presence of a special enzyme that multiplies in the fermenting liquid, also increasing in weight, and with the help of which it is possible to cause fermentation in new portions of the liquid.
Louis Pasteur took up the process of fermentation not by chance. He understood that for France, as a wine-producing country, the problem of aging and "disease" of wine is particularly relevant. At the same time, Louis Pasteur made another important discovery. He found that there are organisms that can live without oxygen. For them, oxygen is not only unnecessary, but also harmful. Such organisms are called anaerobic. Their representatives are microbes that cause butyric acid fermentation. The reproduction of such microbes causes rancidity of wine and beer.
Fermentation, then, was an anaerobic process, life without respiration, because it was adversely affected by oxygen. At the same time, organisms capable of both fermentation and respiration grew more actively in the presence of oxygen, but consumed less organic matter from the environment. Thus it was shown that anaerobic life
less efficient. It is now believed that aerobic organisms can extract 20 times more energy from one amount of organic substrate than anaerobic ones.
In 1864, French winemakers turned to Pasteur with a request to help them develop means and methods to combat wine diseases. The result of his research was a monograph in which Pasteur showed that wine diseases are caused by various microorganisms, and each disease has a specific pathogen. To destroy the harmful "organized enzymes", he proposed to warm the wine at a temperature of 50-60 degrees. This method, called pasteurization, which has found wide application in laboratories and in the food industry.
The study of infectious diseases
Medical microbiology as a science was formed in the second half of the 19th century. Its formation was prepared, on the one hand, by bacteriological studies of microorganisms, which suggested specificity pathogen, and on the other hand, the success of physiology and pathological anatomy, which studied the structure and function of tissues and cells of a microorganism that are directly related to the immune system.
E. Jenfer, having come to the discovery of vaccination, did not represent the mechanism of the processes occurring in the body after vaccination. This mystery has been revealed by a new science - experimental immunology founded by Louis Pasteur
Pasteur showed that the diseases that are now called contagious can only occur as a result of infection, i.e., penetration into the body from external environment microbes. The whole theory and practice of combating contagious diseases of humans, animals and plants is based on this principle in our time. Most scientists adhered to other theories that did not allow them to successfully fight for people's lives.
The sensational discoveries of the German scientist Koch proved that Pasteur was right. Pasteur went further. He decided to fight disease. A series of his numerous experiments was devoted to the study of the microbes of anthrax, from the epidemic of which French pastoralists were suffering at that time. He discovered that an animal that once suffered this terrible disease and managed to overcome it was no longer exposed to the danger of the disease: it acquires immunity to anthrax microbes. This was the first major step in the history of vaccination.
1. L. Pasteur - the founder of microbiology as a science. The impact of Pasteur's work on the development of medical microbiology.
The most important discoveries in microbiology belong to the French scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). Nature has generously endowed this man. A chemist by education, L. Pasteur had a bachelor's degree in mathematics and literature, and had the talent of a portrait painter. All this helped him in scientific activity.
Pasteur laid the foundations for a new direction in microbiology - physiological, proving the role of microorganisms as pathogens.
many biochemical processes and diseases of humans and animals.
After establishing the reasons for the fermentation of wine, microorganisms become the sphere of interest of the scientist. He showed that each type of fermentation (alcohol, lactic acid, etc.) has its own pathogens. He discovered the phenomenon of anaerobiosis, refuted the possibility of spontaneous generation of living things, proved the microbial nature of decay processes, introduced many research methods into the practice of microbiology.
The study of pathogens by L. Pasteur began with work with insects. He found that micro-organisms are the cause of the death of silkworms, and preventive measures are necessary to prevent diseases. The discovery of infectious diseases in insects served as the basis for the further development of biological methods for controlling pests of agricultural plants.
Pasteur is rightly considered the founder of medical microbiology. They discovered the cause of the "puerperal fever" that claimed the lives of women in childbirth; laid the foundations of asepsis, antisepsis, disinfection. The principles of attenuation (weakening of virulence) of pathogenic strains of microorganisms have been developed, which formed the basis for the immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases. In his laboratory, live attenuated vaccines were prepared for the first time for the prevention of cholera in chickens, rubella in pigs, and anthrax in animals.
The name of Louis Pasteur became known throughout the world after the creation of the rabies vaccine, which saved the lives of hundreds of people bitten by sick animals. Despite his successes, Pasteur's path in science was difficult and required incredible diligence and courage. Having overcome everything, Pasteur deserved recognition. In 1888 on folk remedies, collected by subscription in different countries, a research institute was built in Paris, the first director of which was L. Pasteur. Now this institute bears the name of the great scientist. Respect for the merits and personality of Louis Pasteur is best expressed in the inscription on the commemorative medal awarded to him on December 22, 1892: "To Pasteur on his seventieth birthday, science and humanity are grateful." All over the world, scientific and medical institutions are named after the great French explorer.
2. R. Koch's works and their significance in practical microbiology and infectious pathology. The discoveries of the German physician Robert Koch (1843-1910) contributed to the progress of medical microbiology. Solid nutrient media developed in his laboratory, methods for staining preparations with aniline dyes, isolation of pure cultures, and microphotography brought microbiology to a new methodological level.
The main goal of R. Koch's research was the study of pathogenic microorganisms. In 1876, his work on anthrax was published, containing new ideas about the etiology and prevention of this dangerous disease. On March 24, 1882, R. Koch announced the discovery of the causative agent of tuberculosis, and a year later, the isolation of a pure culture of Vibrio cholerae. Despite the fact that the causative agent of tuberculosis is currently called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Vibrio cholerae - Vibrio cholerae, they are known throughout the world as "Koch's wand" and "Koch's vibrio". In 1905 R. Koch was awarded Nobel Prize for discoveries in the field of medicine.
Louis Pasteur was born in the French commune of Dole (Jura department). He was the third child in the family of the poor tanner Jean-Joseph Pasteur. In 1827, his family moved to Arbois, soon the boy entered primary school. He was an average student as his main interests at the time were fishing and painting. Portraits of parents, friends of Pasteur, made by him at the age of fifteen, are now kept in the museum at the Pasteur Institute (Paris). In 1839, Louis entered the Royal College of Besancon for a bachelor's degree and in 1840 was appointed assistant.
In 1846, Pasteur was appointed professor of physics at the College de Tournon and at the same time began research in crystallography. In 1847, he presented to the learned society two of his scientific papers (one in chemistry and the other in physics). For some time he was a professor of physics at the Lycée in Dijon, and in 1848 he became a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. There he met his future wife Marie Laurent, daughter of the rector of the university. In 1849 they got married, 5 children were born in their marriage, but only two of them survived after the typhoid epidemic. These tragedies inspired the great microbiologist to search for the causes of infectious diseases and methods for their treatment.
In 1854, the scientist became dean of the natural sciences at the University of Lille. From 1856 he lived and worked in Paris. The great microbiologist died in 1895 from uremia.
Contribution to medicine
While working with the bacteria that cause fowl cholera, Louis Pasteur discovered that infecting birds with weakened bacteria caused them to develop a defensive reaction to reinfection. Based on these studies, the scientist also developed a vaccine against anthrax. He found that the causative agent of this disease grows when heated to 42-43 degrees Celsius, but does not have spore-forming properties. Thus, the scientist received a bacillus that retained its immunogenicity, but to a certain extent lost its virulence. The concept of a mild form of disease causing immunity to a virulent type of virus was not new; the English physician Edward Jenner applied the method of vaccination against smallpox as early as 1796. The essential difference between the inventions was that the Pasteur method did not cause even a mild form of the disease, since the pathogens were subjected to artificial influence. This discovery was revolutionary.
Louis Pasteur studied rabies in detail, which led to the discovery of anti-rabies vaccinations. Rabies is characterized, as a rule, by a rather long incubation period. The scientist suggested that if a bitten animal is injected with a stronger virus each time, immunity can be obtained until the infection spreads in the body and causes disease. His hypothesis was confirmed. In July 1885, Pasteur successfully applied the rabies vaccine to humans. The patient was a nine-year-old boy, Josef Meitser, who was bitten by a rabid dog. The child did not show any symptoms of a dangerous disease.
Pasteurization and other studies
In 1864, winemakers turned to Pasteur with a huge request to help develop methods and means of combating the phenomenon of wine spoilage. Pasteur investigated this issue and found out that various microorganisms are the cause of the "diseases" of wine. To eliminate them, the scientist proposed warming up (“pasteurizing”) wine at t from 50 to 60 ° C. The famous microbiologist proved that fermentation is a process that is closely related to the vital activity of yeast (yeast fungi), and also found out (using microorganisms as an example) that the appearance of living things from non-living things is impossible. In addition, he discovered anaerobic microorganisms.
Famous doctors of all time | ||
---|---|---|
Austrian | Adler Alfred Auenbrugger Leopold Breuer Joseph van Swieten Gaen Antonius Selye Hans Freud Sigmund | |
antique | Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna) Asclepius Galen Herophilus Hippocrates | |
British | Brown John Harvey William Jenner Edward Lister Joseph Sydenham Thomas | |
Italian | Cardano Gerolamo Lombroso Cesare | |
German | Billroth Christian Virchow Rudolf Wundt Wilhelm Hahnemann Samuel Helmholtz Hermann Griesinger Wilhelm Grafenberg Ernst Koch Robert Kraepelin Emil Pettenkofer Max Erlich Paul Esmarch Johann | |
Russian | Amosov N.M. Bakulev A.N. Bekhterev V.M. Botkin S.P. Burdenko N.N. Danilevsky V.Ya. Zakharyin G.A. Kandinsky V.Kh. Korsakov S.S. Mechnikov I.I. Mudrov M.Ya. Pavlov I.P. Pirogov N.I. Semashko N.A. |
French microbiologist and chemist was born in Dole (Jura, France). In 1847 he graduated from the Higher Normal School in Paris.
At the Normal School, he could devote himself entirely to his favorite science, which he did not hesitate to do. He listened to the lectures of two famous chemists: Dumas at the Sorbonne, Balard at the Normal School. Dumas, one of the creators of organic chemistry, was a thinker, a philosopher who was fond of originality and novelty of views; Balar, who became famous in particular for the discovery of bromine, differed more in terms of actual research.
Pasteur made his first discovery in his student years, discovering the optical asymmetry of molecules. Separating two crystalline forms of tartaric acid from each other, he showed that they are optical antipodes (right- and left-handed forms). These studies formed the basis of stereochemistry, a new branch of structural chemistry.
Later, Pasteur established that optical isomerism is characteristic of many organic compounds, while natural products, unlike synthetic ones, are represented by only one of two isomeric forms. He also established the possibility of separating optical isomers with the help of microorganisms assimilating one of them.
The first work brought Pasteur a doctoral degree and in 1849 a professorship in Strasbourg. He married Marie Laurent, daughter of the rector of the Strasbourg Academy. They say that on the day of the wedding he had to be taken out of the laboratory and reminded that he was getting married today.
His marriage turned out to be quite happy: he found rest in the family after an exhausting laboratory work and fierce battles with opponents, enemies, envious and detractors, the number of which, as usual, grew with the growth of his fame and importance.
Pasteur always strived to ensure that his work directly served people, answered their urgent needs. He knew perfectly well what a huge role winemaking plays in France, and he himself loved good wine. The question of the "diseases" of wine has long been of interest to winemakers and scientists from different countries: half a century before Pasteur, the Academy in Florence offered a prize for its resolution. But the prize remained unclaimed.
The young scientist began to study the process of fermentation. At that time, many scientists believed that fermentation was purely chemical phenomenon. Pasteur made the unexpected conclusion that fermentation can only occur in the presence of living microorganisms - yeast. Hence, fermentation is a biological phenomenon.
What causes wine to spoil? It turns out that when bacteria get into the wine along with the yeast, they can displace the yeast and turn the wine into vinegar, make it viscous, give it a bitter taste, etc.
To protect the wine from spoilage, Pasteur proposed immediately after fermentation to heat it up to 60-70 ° C, without bringing it to a boil. At the same time, the taste of the wine is preserved, and the bacteria die. This technique is now known everywhere under the name pasteurization. This is how milk, wine, and beer are processed.
Investigating fermentation, Pasteur simultaneously discovered the possibility of life without oxygen. So live, in particular, butyric acid bacteria that make wine, beer, milk bitter. Organisms that do not need or even harmful oxygen are called anaerobic.
Following the study of fermentation, Pasteur became interested in the question of microorganisms in general. Perhaps they are capable of causing not only the “diseases” of wine, but also contagious human diseases? At this time, Pasteur's little daughter Jeanne died of typhus. Perhaps this also prompted the scientist to further study microbes.
At this time, the Paris Academy of Sciences announced a competition for the best solution to the question of whether spontaneous generation of life occurs under normal conditions.
Pasteur decided to prove that even microbes can arise only from other microbes, that is, spontaneous generation does not occur. His predecessors have already shown this. Italian scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani in the 17th century. boiled the broth in a sealed vessel. Such a broth did not deteriorate, bacteria did not appear in it.
But Spallanzani's opponents answered that a certain "life force" simply could not penetrate into a closed vessel, due to which spontaneous generation occurs. Pasteur decided to refute this ridiculous argument with a simple and ingenious experiment. He decided to repeat the same experiment in an open vessel!
To do this, he made his famous glass vessels with a long thin neck, curved in the shape of a swan's neck. He left the neck open and boiled the broth in such a vessel. Imaginary " vitality Now nothing prevented us from penetrating into the vessel. But real bacteria could not get there - they settled on the bends of the neck along with the dust. The bacteria in the broth did not start, it remained clean. So Pasteur brilliantly proved that even bacteria do not originate on their own, but can only come from other bacteria.
In 1863 Pasteur solved another practical agricultural problem. He figured out the exact cause of two silkworm diseases. These diseases were caused by bacteria, and Pasteur found methods to combat them. As the inhabitants of southern France, where sericulture is developed, said, for this he should have erected a monument of pure gold.
After this work, in 1868 Pasteur suffered a misfortune - a cerebral hemorrhage. His brain was half destroyed by the disease, the left half of the body was permanently paralyzed. During his illness, the scientist learned that in anticipation of his death, the construction of his new laboratory was interrupted. Pasteur became angry and had a passionate desire to live. He returned to scientific work, complaining only that "the productivity of the brain has decreased significantly."
top of everything scientific activity Pasteur was the theory of pathogens and the use of vaccines to prevent them. It was the beginning of antiseptics, which became the norm in medicine and surgery.
Investigating anthrax, chicken cholera, swine rubella, Pasteur was finally convinced that they were caused by specific pathogens and began to make protective vaccinations, in particular, vaccination against anthrax (1881), laying the foundation for theories of artificial immunity.
Finally, Louis Pasteur's most impressive triumph was the discovery of the rabies vaccine. Pasteur decided to investigate rabies when he witnessed the death of a girl from the disease, bitten by a rabid dog. He was shocked by her tragic death.
The virus - the causative agent of rabies was invisible in the then microscopes. Pasteur knew almost nothing and could not know about him, except that he causes this contagious disease. It is amazing that, fighting with an invisible enemy, in fact, "blindly", the great scientist managed to emerge victorious from the struggle.
Rabies was known to strike first nervous system. Pasteur took a piece of the brain of a dog that had died of rabies and injected it into the brain of a rabbit. After the death of a rabbit, a piece of its brain was injected with a syringe into the brain of the next rabbit - and so on more than 100 times. The pathogen was then inoculated into the dog. During the "transplantation" in the organisms of rabbits, the pathogen became harmless to the dog.
A significant day for science came on July 6, 1885. Two days earlier, in the Alsatian village of Steige, nine-year-old Joseph Meister went to school in a neighboring village. But on the way, someone attacked the boy from behind and knocked him down. Turning around, he saw the bared muzzle of a rabid dog. Leaning on the child and splashing with saliva, the dog bit him many times. A passer-by managed to drive away the enraged dog. But 14 wounds, although they did not directly threaten the boy's life, left no doubt that the child was doomed to inevitable death from rabies. Heartbroken mother brought Joseph to Paris to Pasteur. She was told that this only person who can save him.
Pasteur pondered painfully all day. The boy had no chance of surviving without vaccination. But if he dies after vaccination, the method itself will be in doubt. Besides, Pasteur did not have a medical degree! If the boy died, he could be brought to trial.
And yet the scientist decided to try. Josef was given injections every day. The dose of weakened pathogen increased each time. In the end, a no longer weakened, but a deadly pathogen was inoculated. Before Pasteur's eyes, according to his biographer, "there was always the image of a child, sick, dying, or in a fit of rage."
These 20 days of waiting were the most difficult in the life of a scientist. Pasteur hardly slept, refused food. But the boy remained healthy!
From all over the world, scientists and doctors flocked to Paris, who then created Pasteur stations for rabies vaccination in their homeland. The first such station was opened in Russia in 1886. Sick people also went to Pasteur. So, in March 1886, a group of Smolensk peasants arrived, bitten by a rabid wolf. Few believed in the success of the treatment, because 12 days had already passed since the infection. But as a result of the vaccination course, 16 out of 19 peasants were saved.
One day, a letter arrived on the street where the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur lived, where instead of the addressee's name stood: "To the one who performs miracles." They did not hesitate at the post office and delivered the letter to the address - Pasteur.
Despite the numerous scientific victories of the scientist, many biologists and doctors for a long time "did not forgive" Pasteur for his chemical education. The chemist invaded the “reserved” area of the living, defeated diseases that doctors could not cope with. Only at the age of 59 did Pasteur receive the highest honor for a French scientist - he was elected to the French Academy. But even so, the pundits managed to prick Pasteur. They chose him not for his advances in the study of microorganisms, but for his early work on stereochemistry. Someone distributed lists of people "killed by Pasteur", that is, those who died despite his vaccinations.
But among ordinary people the popularity of Pasteur, who defeated such a terrible disease as rabies, was enormous. The whole world was talking about him. Money was collected through an international subscription, with which the magnificent Pasteur Institute of Microbiology, opened in 1888, was built in Paris. But the scientist’s health deteriorated so much that by the time the institute was opened, he could no longer work in the laboratory.
Russian scientist Ilya Mechnikov, who worked with Pasteur in last years his life, called the victory over rabies Pasteur's "swan song".
September 28, 1895 Louis Pasteur passed away. His ashes were transported to Paris and interred in a special tomb arranged in the basement of the Pasteur Institute.
Kliment Timiryazev wrote in his essay on Pasteur's death: “And here we have a picture that has never been seen before. A simple scientist descends into the grave, and representatives of all countries and peoples, governments and individuals compete in an effort to give the calmed worker the last honor, to express feelings of boundless, genuine gratitude.
Eight employees of the Institute were awarded the Nobel Prize: Alphonse Laveran (1907), Ilya Mechnikov (1908), Julius Bordet (1919), Charles Nicolet (1928), Daniel Volet (1957), André Lof, Franz Jakob, Jagis Monod (1965).
Pasteur's contribution to science is enormous. He laid the foundations of several areas in medicine, chemistry and biology: stereochemistry, microbiology, virology, immunology, bacteriology. Vaccination, pasteurization, antiseptics - can you imagine modern life without these inventions, and they were made by Pasteur in the 19th century.
Louis Pasteur was an honorary member of almost all learned societies and academies of sciences, was a holder of orders from different countries, and like a real Frenchman, he gave great importance external differences. But the highest reward for Pasteur is the vitality of his scientific ideas, the continuation of all his undertakings for the benefit of mankind.
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