Beliefs About Causes and Treatments of Disease
LOUIS PASTEUR
- 1850s French chemist, Louis Pasteur, investigated problem of liquids turning sour in brewing industry
- Powerful microscopes meant Pasteur could observe the growth of small organisms
- Discovered heating liquid killed bacteria & stopped liquid going sour
- 1861 – Pasteur published his germ theory – showed microbes in air caused decay
- PROVED OLD THEORIES WRONG ONCE AND FOR ALL – no more four humours
- Led to improved understanding of WHAT caused disease BUT treatments took time because needed to identify microbe responsible for each separate disease
- Breakthrough in knowledge & understanding but impact slow – some doctors still recommended old ideas such as bloodletting
ROBERT KOCH
- 1875 – Read Pasteur’s work investigated which bacteria were linked to specific diseases
- Worked with a team of scientists and was funded by the German government
- 1877 – identified microbes that caused the disease anthrax in sheep
- 1882 – identified microbes causing TB
- 1883 – identified microbes causing Cholera
- Found that chemical dyes could be used to stain specific bacteria so they could be studied more easily under the microscope
- Used research teams and received govt funding
- This meant he could afford new technology, large-scale testing, and develop different specialisms e.g. medicine, biology, chemistry
Here’s the activity we did in class about what influenced both Pasteur and Koch:
Colour code the boxes according to the different factors that influenced them – remember! Alternatively you can just use it for information!