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The French Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) and German Robert Koch (1843–1910) are the two greatest figures in medical microbiology and in establishing acceptance of the germ theory of disease (germ theory). [1] In 1882, fueled by national rivalry and a language barrier, the tension between Pasteur and the younger Koch erupted into an acute ...
Koch's postulates (/ k ɒ x / KOKH) [2] are four criteria designed to establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a disease. The postulates were formulated by Robert Koch and Friedrich Loeffler in 1884, based on earlier concepts described by Jakob Henle , and the statements were refined and published by Koch in 1890. [ 3 ]
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch (/ k ɒ x / KOKH; [1] [2] German: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈkɔx] ⓘ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist.As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he is regarded as one of the main founders of modern bacteriology.
Louis Pasteur's contemporary Robert Koch devoted much of his scientific study to discovering certain pathogens and connecting them to specific diseases. These scientists were often in competition with one another and so the Koch-Pasteur rivalry is a well-known part of germ theory's history.
Antimicrobial use has been common practice for at least 2000 years. Ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks used specific molds and plant extracts to treat infection. [5]In the 19th century, microbiologists such as Louis Pasteur and Jules Francois Joubert observed antagonism between some bacteria and discussed the merits of controlling these interactions in medicine. [6]
The phenomenon was described by Pasteur and Koch as antibacterial activity and was named antibiosis by French biologist Jean Paul Vuillemin in 1877. [12] [13] (The term antibiosis, meaning 'against life', was adopted as antibiotic by American biologist and later Nobel laureate Selman Waksman in 1947. [14])
Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various clinical applications of microbes for the improvement of health.
Bacteria grown in this way are often tested to find which antibiotics will be an effective treatment for the infection. For hitherto unknown pathogens, Koch's postulates are the standard to establish a causative relationship between a microbe and a disease.