German Doctor and Bacteriologist Robert Koch
Robert Koch (1843-1910), whose German name is Robert Koch, is
a German doctor and bacteriologist, and the founder and pioneer of pathogenic
bacteriology in the world. Koch's pioneering contribution to the medical
profession has also made him a master of great fighting in the world of
medicine that makes Germans proud.
Bacteriologist Name: Robert Koch
Country of Citizenship: Germany
Place of birth: Europe Germany Clauster
Date of birth: 1843
Date of death: 1910
Graduated from school: University of Göttingen
Major achievements: For the first time proved that a specific microorganism is the cause of a specific disease
Particulars of Robert Koch
Birth and death: Born in Clauster, Europe, Germany in 1843
(Guimao year), and died in Baden, Germany in 1910 (Gengxu year)
Nationality: German
Province: Harz, Clauster City
Educational background: University of Göttingen
Important contribution: It is the first time to prove that a
specific microorganism is the cause of a specific disease, clarified that
specific bacteria will cause specific diseases. He invented a pure culture method
of bacteria using a solid medium
Robert Koch Biography
Introduction to Robert Koch: In 1905, the great German medical scientist and the famous
Robert Koch won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with conspicuous
pioneering achievements. Koch ’s award was only 4 years away from another
German, Roentgen, who won the first Nobel Prize in Physics.
As we all know, infectious diseases are the enemy of human
health. Since ancient times, plague, typhoid fever, cholera, tuberculosis and
many other terrible diseases have claimed countless human lives.
To overcome
these vicious diseases, mankind must first understand the cause of the disease.
The first person to discover that an infectious disease is caused by a
pathogenic bacterial infection is Robert Koch. He is the founder and pioneer of
pathogenic bacteriology in the world.
Robert Koch was born on December 11, 1843 in Clauster near
Harz, Germany. He was the son of a miner and loved biology since childhood. In
the course of studying anthrax, he proved to the world for the first time that
a specific microorganism is the source of a specific disease.
He has shown the
pioneer's ambition since he was a child. One day, when Koch's parents counted
their 13 children, they found their son Koch missing. Later, the anxious mother
finally found her son by a small pond. At this time, Koch was squatting by the
pond and watching attentively a small floating paper boat.
When his mother
asked him what he was puzzled, Koch replied, "Mom, I want to be a sailor
and sail to the sea"
When Koch was 7 years old, a pastor in Clauster City died of
illness, and Koch asked a series of questions to the mother who went to mourn:
What disease does the pastor have?
"Can't the terminal illness
be cured? Isn’t it? ”
Mother couldn’t answer Koch’s question. This incident
left a deep impression in the heart of the young Koch, and made him determined
to devote himself to conquering the devil's medical career in the future,
curing the mother's thought that it was an incurable terminal illness. It was
with this pioneering ambition that Koch made an extraordinary contribution to
the pathogenic bacteriology.
The following set of statistics about Robert Koch
is sufficient to explain all issues:
- The world’s first invention of the bacterial photography method.
- Tthe world ’s first discovery of anthrax.
- Bacillus anthracis, a hot pathogenic bacteria.
- For the first time in the world, it was proved that a specific microorganism causes a specific disease.
- The first typhoid bacillus isolated in the world.
- The steam sterilization method was invented for the first time in the world
- The first time in the world to isolate tuberculosis bacteria
- For the first time in the world, an inoculation method to prevent anthracnose was invented
- Vibrio cholerae was discovered for the first time in the world
- The world ’s first cholera prevention law was proposed
- For the first time in the world, the secret of the spread of plague by rat fleas was discovered
For the first time in the world, it was discovered that sleep
disorders are transmitted by tsetse flies.
Formulate Koch’s law
Koch ’s strict guidelines for the
study of pathogenic microorganisms, known as Koch’s law, include:
First, this
microorganism must be found in diseased animal tissues, but not in diseased
animals.
Second, the microorganism isolated from the sick animal can
be purified and cultured in vitro.
Third, after the cultured microorganism is
transferred to a healthy animal, the animal will show signs of infection.
This
microorganism can be isolated from infected healthy animals.
Established a solid medium streak separation pure seed
method.
These are enough to show the world that Robert Koch's
pioneering contribution to the medical cause has also made Koch a master of the
world in which the Germans are proud in the world of medicine.
Life
Koch was born in Clausthal, Germany on December 11, 1843.
When he was 5 years old, he was able to study by himself with the help of
newspapers, which indicated her extraordinary wisdom and perseverance. He
showed a strong interest in biology while studying in high school. Koch was
admitted to Gdingen in 1862
Study medicine at university
After graduating from the
University of Göttingen in Germany in 1866 (with a doctorate in medicine), he
went to Berlin for 6 months of chemical research, where he was influenced by
Virehow, and Koch went to Hamburg for a period of hospitalization in 1867.
The
doctor then opened business in Langenhagen and soon opened in Rackwitz, Posen
Province, in 1869, where he passed the district medical officer examination.
After marriage in 1870, Koch went to a small rural village of
Walstein in East Prussia as a surgeon, established a rudimentary laboratory
there, and engaged in pathogenic microbiology research for many years.
Koch
could not contact the library without scientific research equipment, and even
could not contact other scientific researchers to start studying anthrax. His
laboratory is at his home, and his scientific research equipment, except for
the microscope that his wife gave him, was all he managed to solve by himself.
In 1876, he went to Breslau for 3 days to prove that Bacillus anthracis is the
cause of anthracnose by public performance experiments, and reported that the
life history of anthracnose was from the cycle of Bacillus-Bacillus-Bacillus.
Without dying.
He believes that each disease has certain pathogenic bacteria,
which corrects the view that all bacteria were one species at the time, and
thus began the research on the source of the disease.
In 1880 Koch was invited
to work in Berlin and served in the German Health Agency. Here he has a good
laboratory and assistants. In 1881, he founded the solid medium streak
separation pure seed method; using this method, the main pathogens of
infectious diseases were discovered one after another. After that, he turned to
the research of the pathogen of tuberculosis.
He improved the dyeing method and
discovered the pure strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that was not available
at the time. In order to cultivate a large number of pure tuberculosis
bacteria, he switched to coagulated serum to inoculate the culture, and the cultured
pure tuberculosis bacteria was made into a suspension.
Through the abdominal
cavity experiment of guinea pig injection, the guinea pig died 4 to 6 weeks due
to tuberculosis. He used experiments to prove that tuberculosis bacteria have
the same symptoms regardless of whether they come from monkeys, cattle or
humans. And then clarified the infection route of tuberculosis.
On March 24,
1882, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was declared by Koch at the Berlin
Physiological Society in Germany.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the pathogen
of tuberculosis. And researched the method of pure culture of bacteria.
In
1882, a classic book about Mycobacterium tuberculosis was published. In 1883
Koch was appointed chairman of the German Cholera Committee. He was sent to Egypt
to investigate the outbreak of cholera.
Koch in Egypt and India
After 1883, he went to Egypt and India to investigate the
epidemic of cholera outbreaks there. He and his colleagues discovered that the
cholera pathogen was Vibrio cholerae, which was shaped like a comma, and found
that the bacterium could be transmitted through water, food, clothing, etc.
Based on his knowledge of the biology of Vibrio cholerae and how it spreads,
Koch proposed laws to control the epidemic of cholera. These laws were approved
by major powers in 1893 and formed the basis for the cholera control methods
that are still in use today.
Koch received a 100,000 German mark for his
contribution to cholera research. His research work also has a major impact on
the protection of drinking water planning. He also discovered the causative
agent of amoebic dysentery and two conjunctivitis.
In 1890 he proposed to treat
tuberculosis with tuberculin. From 1891 to 1899, he also studied plague,
malaria, fever, trypanosomiasis, and African coastal diseases in Egypt and
India. Published a paper on controlling tuberculosis in 1905 and won the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine. May 27, 1910, died of a heart attack in Baden,
Germany. At the age of 67.
The following set of statistics about Robert Koch is enough
to explain all the problems. The great medical scientist, the originator of
bacteriology, Robert Koch graduated from the University of Göttingen at the age
of 23 and became a rural doctor.
After working as a surgeon in Walston, he
built an extremely rudimentary laboratory and used a microscope with only a
general multiple to start the research of pathogenic microorganisms.
He stayed
in the laboratory for a few weeks and didn't come out. Some people said that he
had a mental illness, and even his first wife didn't understand her husband's
career and eventually broke up.
What are the Scientific achievements of Robert Koch?
He invented the pure culture method of bacteria using solid
medium on the basis of medical science researches such as Hanler and Davan, and
cultivated and isolated Bacillus anthracis for the first time.
Mycobacterium
tuberculosis was also found in sample No. 271 and was considered to be the
causative agent of various types of tuberculosis.
On March 24, 1882, at a
meeting of the Berlin Physiological Society, he read out his paper on the
discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and all the participants had no
criticisms or objections. This day has become an important milestone in the
history of human medicine.
After that, he discovered Vibrio cholerae again, and
found the way of cross infection of cholera disease and the method of treatment
and control.
He also uncovered the secret of rat flea spreading gland rat, and
soon controlled the epidemic of bubonic plague.
In 1890, he discovered
tuberculin. Around Koch, new miracles of bacteria appear almost every day. They
are regarded as the originator of bacteriology by descendants.
They are awarded
the German Crown Medal and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for
tuberculosis research.
In 1873, on the 30th birthday of Robert Koch, his wife bought
a microscope with all her savings and gave it to Koch as a birthday gift. Since
then, Koch spent all his spare time on the microscope and concentrated on the
study of bacteria and diseases. relationship.
In 1876 he isolated Bacillus
anthracis, which was the first time humans proved that a specific bacterium was
the cause of a specific infectious disease. In 1880, he isolated typhoid
bacillus. In 1881, he discovered Vibrio cholerae.
On March 24, 1882, he
isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and announced the isolation of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis at a medical annual meeting in Berlin.
It was a
great discovery when he was only 39 years old. Later, tuberculin was invented,
which made a valuable contribution to the prevention and treatment of
tuberculosis, which is the most harmful to human health.
On April 10, 1882,
Koch published the paper "Etiology of Tuberculosis" in the Clinical Weekly.
Not only did Koch discover many pathogens, but he also laid
down the basic principles and techniques of bacteriological research.
Some
people have counted that Koch has added nearly 50 methods of diagnosis and
treatment of human and animal diseases in the medical treasure house.
In
people's minds at that time, Koch became the nemesis of infectious diseases. In
1905 Koch won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
On May 27, 1910, in a
nursing home in Baden, Germany, a 65-year-old man died of a heart attack due to
overwork, sitting quietly in a chair. Even then, he still carries his beloved
microscope. A commemorative poem wrote:
"From this microcosm, this giant
star has emerged. You have conquered the entire earth, and the people of the
world thank you. The garland is not withered, and it will be famous for
generations."
The World Health Organization announced in 1982 that March 24
every year is designated as World Tuberculosis Day. Various countries have
issued commemorative stamps based on anti-tuberculosis content, donated stamps
and tuberculosis stamps, which have contributed to the treatment, prevention
and scientific research of the disease.
A stamp was issued in Germany
(1944) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Koch’s birth. Berlin, a stamp
issued in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Koch’s death in the former
Soviet Union.
A commemorative stamp was issued in China, Mexico, Vietnam and
Thailand to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Koch ’s discovery of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
In 2003, through the joint efforts of scientists from 10
countries around the world, coronavirus was finally confirmed as the pathogen
of SARS.
The final determination of whether this coronavirus is the real
culprit depends on the "Koch principle" proposed by Koch, the great
German bacteriologist more than 100 years ago:
"It must find the pathogen
in all patients. It must be separated from the patient and Cultivate the
pathogen. Inoculate the cultured pathogen to the animal, and the animal should
have the same symptoms as the patient. The same pathogen can be isolated and
cultured from the animal with the symptom."
Discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis In the long history
of human history, human beings have conquered the natural world, including
various "incurable diseases", and have performed many stories that
can be weeping and weeping.
According to historical records, the plague that
has endangered humans has occurred three times in the world. Every pandemic has
claimed hundreds of millions of innocent lives. "Eastern dead rats,
western dead rats, dead mice.
If you see a tiger, the rat will die for a few
days, and people will die like a sorrow" Tuberculosis, anciently
known as "tuberculosis" in our country, is called "black
death" in some foreign countries, and was once considered terminally ill.
Once infected, there is little hope of recovery.
In addition, cholera, anthrax,
and sleeping sickness have been rampant to humans, causing serious disasters to
humans. However, the essential power of humanity lies in conquering nature.
Robert Koch is one of the most outstanding scientists in the struggle of human
beings against various diseases.
When and Why did Robert Koch Win Nobel Prize?
Nobel Laurette Robert Koch: In 1905, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology
and Medicine for studying tuberculosis and discovering Mycobacterium
tuberculosis and tuberculin.
But this is only a small part of his work. His
life's work laid the foundation of medical bacteriology, and made indelible
contributions to the conquering of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis,
anthrax, cholera, and plague Known as "the nemesis of the plague."
Koch is renowned in Germany for his achievements in studying
bacteria. In 1880, he transferred to the Imperial Hospital in Berlin. He then
developed two important bacteriological techniques. One is pure bacterial
culture with solid medium. This method solves the contradiction that when
liquid culture medium is used to cultivate bacteria, various bacteria grow
together and are difficult to separate.
On the surface of the solid medium, an
isolated bacterium grows fixedly at a certain point on the medium and
continuously splits to form visible plaques. These bacterial colonies are a
cluster of colonies that originate from a variety, and then These colonies can
be easily transplanted to other media or inoculated into animals.
Koch negates
the unpredictable polymorphism view of microbial morphology through pure
culture, but he believes that the morphology of microbes is eternal and
one-sided.
In order to clearly observe the morphology of bacteria, Koch also
invented a bacterial staining method to stain bacteria with aniline. At the
same time, he also invented a microscope with a camera, which can directly
photograph the bacteria he saw.
Through a series of studies, Koch proposed an important
criterion for determining pathogens-Koch's theorem, that is, a disease-causing
microorganism can be found in a diseased organism, and this microorganism can
be extracted and inoculated into a healthy same species Animals that cause the
same disease, and newly infected animals must be able to extract the same microorganisms
as the previous inoculation.
Use of Theorems and techniques by Robert Koch
Using these theorems and techniques, Koch isolated the
pathogens of many diseases. His most prominent discovery and the culmination of
his career was that he successfully isolated the causative agent of
tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in 1882, and demonstrated its
pathogenic mechanism.
In 1890, he cultivated tuberculin and used it to diagnose
and treat tuberculosis.
Where there is an epidemic, there is Koch. In 1883, he led
medical experts to visit Egypt and India disaster areas to study lymph bubonic
plague and cholera. There, he discovered the pathogenic Vibrio cholerae and
proposed a method to prevent the epidemic of cholera. To this end, he was
awarded a 100,000 mark by the German government and was hired as a professor of
hygiene at the University of Berlin in 1885. Soon, he traveled to Africa to
study sleeping sickness.
From 1897 to 1906, through a series of work, he pointed out
that the vector of lymph bubonic plague is a kind of lice parasitic on rats, and
sleeping sickness is infected by tsetse flies. This discovery integrates other
scholars' research results on malaria, and proposes a new method for
controlling malaria, that is, the elimination of the carrier of the
pathogen-insect-the insect vector.
Koch has devoted all his life to protecting human health. In
his later years, he was admitted to the Baden-Baden spa sanatorium due to heart
disease. During his convalescence, he still missed the study of bacteriology.
May 17, 1910, died in a nursing home. His merits will always inspire people to
open up a new world to overcome disease!
Which Awards did Robert Koch Win?
1. Won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1905
2. The cities of Berlin, Wottstein and his hometown of Ctausthal
all awarded him the title of honorary citizen
3. Obtained the honorary membership title of academic groups
such as Berlin City and Vienna
4. Awarded the German Crown Medal
5. Awarded the Red Eagle Grand Cross Medal (the first person
in the medical profession to receive this honor)
6. Received a 100,000 German mark prize for contributions to
cholera research
7. Heidelberg University and Bologna University awarded him
an honorary doctorate
8. The German government set up a fund of 1 million marks in
1907 to commemorate his achievements
9. Selected as a member of the Royal Society in 1897
10. Selected as a member of the French Academy of Sciences in
1903
Stamp memorial
Author's Bio
![]() |
Dr. Shawna Reason |
Education: MBBS, MD
Occupation: Medical Doctor / Virologist
Specialization: Medical Science, Micro Biology / Virology, Natural Treatment
Experience: 15 Years as a Medical Practitioner
About Me | Linkedin | Quora Profile | Medium Profile | Twitter
Comments
Post a Comment