Antony van Leewenhoek (1632-1723):
1677: First scientist who observed bacteria and other microorganisms using home a single lens microscope constructed by him and he named those organisms as “Little animalcules”. This microscope could magnify up to 266 times.
1688:Francesco Redi disproved the idea of spontaneous generation
Edward Jenner:
1796 :He developed the first vaccine of the world- Smallpox vaccine. He used the cowpox virus (Variola vaccine) to immunize children against smallpox from which the term ‘vaccine’ derived.
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895):
Father of microbiology
1861 : Disproved spontaneous generation
- The vaccine development against several diseases, such as cholera, anthrax and rabies. (Without identifying organisms)
▪ He disproved the theory of spontaneous generation of disease and postulated the ‘ germ theory of disease’.
▪ Liquid media concept : he used nutrient broth to grow microorganisms.
▪ He was the founder of the Pasteur institute, paris.
▪ He had proposed the principles of fermentation for preservation of food.
▪ He introduced the sterilization techniques and development sterilization , hot air oven and autoclave.
▪ He described the method of pasteurization of milk.
Joseph Lister (1867):
He is considered as the Father of antiseptic surgery.
Robert Koch (1843-1910):
Father of Modern Microbiology
▪ He was a German general practitioner (1843 – 1910).
▪ First proof of Germ Theory of Disease with B. anthracis discovery
▪ He discovered bacteria such as the anthrax bacilli, tubercle bacilli and cholera bacilli. Koch Bacilli= M.tuberculosis
▪ He introduced solid media for the culture of bacteria. (1881)
▪ He also introduced methods for isolation of bacteria in pure culture.
▪ He described the hanging drop motility method.
▪ He introduced staining techniques.
Koch’s Postulates: The first direct demonstration of the role of bacteria in causing disease came from the study of anthrax by the German physician Robert Koch (1843–1910).
- The microorganism must be present in every case of the disease but absent from healthy organisms
- The suspected microorganisms must be isolated and grown in a pure culture.
- The same disease must result when the isolated microorganism is inoculated into a healthy host.
- The same microorganism must be isolated again from the diseased host.
Another important tool developed in Koch’s laboratory was a container for holding solidified media—the petri dish (plate), named after Richard Petri, who devised it.
John Tyndall
1876: Developed fractional sterilization (Tyndallization)
Paul Ehrlich (1854 – 1915):
- He was a German scientist and is also known as ‘father of chemotherapy’ . Ehrlichia organism
His contributions are as follows:
▪ He was the first to report the acid – fast nature of tubercle bacillus. Developed acid-fast Staining technique(1882).
▪ He developed techniques to stain tissues and blood cells.
▪ He proposed the ‘side chain theory for antibody production.He stated the action of Toxin and Antitoxin.
Christian Gram
1884: Developed Gram Staining technique.
| 1677 Antony Van Leeuwenhoek | Observed “little animals“.Father of Light Microscopy |
| 1688 Francesco Redi | Disproved the idea of spontaneous generation |
| 1796 Edward Jenner | Small pox vaccination (First Vaccine)
Jenner invented the word “Vaccination” for his treatment (from Latin vacca, a cow). Pasteur adopted this word for immunization against any disease. |
| 1850 Ignaz Semmelweis | Advocated washing hands to stop the spread of disease |
| 1861 Louis Pasteur |
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| 1862 Louis Pasteur | He proved that life itself did not ” spontaneously come into being ” through a series of experiments using a sterilized flask and showed that life can only be generated from existing life
Pasteur also showed that microorganisms caused fermentation – a process used in baking and brewing. He recommended sterile technique and Pasteurization (became a central method for controlling TB, Diphtheria, and other diseases) .Pasteur conducted studies on chicken cholera and discovered one could attenuate cultures and produce artificial vaccines. He also developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax. |
| 1867 Joseph Lister | Antiseptic surgery. By spraying carbolic acid on surgical instruments, wounds and dressings, he reduced surgical mortality due to bacterial infection considerably. Lister used antiseptics on wounds and during surgery. He showed that the healing was faster with the antiseptic treatment. He was also the first to isolate a pure culture by serial dilution: Bacterium lactis. |
| 1876 Robert Koch
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| 1876 John Tyndall | Developed fractional sterilization (Tyndallisation) |
| 1881 Robert Koch | Growth of Bacteria on solid media |
| 1882 Robert Koch | Koch’s postulates |
| 1882 Paul Ehrlich | Developed acid-fast Staining technique |
| 1883 Elie Metchinikoff | Discovered phagocytosis |
| 1884 Christian Gram | Developed Gram Staining technique |
| 1885 Louis Pasteur | First Rabies vaccination |
| 1887 R.J. Petri | Invented Petri Dish |
| 1892 Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovski | Discovery of viruses |
| 1899 Martinus Beijerinck | Recognized viral dependence on cells for reproduction |
| 1900 Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou | Discovered complement fixation reaction |
| 1906 August Von Wassermann | Introduced Complement fixation test for syphilis |
| Frederick W.Twort (1915 and Felix d’Herelle (1917) | Independently discovered Bacteriophages |
| 1928 Alexander Fleming | Discovery of Penicillin |
| 1931 Ernst Ruska | First electron microscope |
| 1977 W. Gilbert & F. Sanger | DNA sequencing |
| 1983 Kary Mullis | Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) |
DISCOVERY OF CAUSATIVE ORGANISMS
| Year | Disease | Organism | Scientist |
| 1876 | Anthrax | Bacillus anthracis | Robert Koch |
| 1880 | Typhoid | Salmonella typhi | Eberth |
| 1882 | Glanders | Burkholderia mallei | Loeffler and Schutz |
| 1885 | Tetanus | Clostridium tetani | Nicolaier |
| 1894 | Plague | Yersinia pestis | Kitasato and Yersin |
| 1895 | Fowl typhoid | Salmonella gallinarum | Moore |
| 1897 | Brucellosis | Brucella abortus | Bang |