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Louis Pasteur
Life Details
Born: December 27th, 1822. Died: September 28th, 1895.
Introduction
Louis Pastuer was a French microbiologist who led discoveries of vaccination, fermentation on the microbrial level and pasteurisation, a way to eliminate pathogens and microorganisms from food or drink.
Early Life
Born in Dole, France, Pasteur was the middle of five children that for generations had been leather tanners. During his early life, he was more artistic than academic, until his later years in secondary school, where he did rigorous studies to compensate for his academic shortfall in earlier life. He managed to get his master's degree in the École Normale Supérieure in Paris during 1845. Two years later he got his doctorate there.
Career
Pasteur was appointed professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848, and later became the chair of chemistry in 1852. From February 1854, he went on a sabbatical for three months in order to obtain the title of correspondent of the Institute, which was paid for by the university. This was extended until August 1, at which point the exams started, and he undertook them.
During the same year, he was named dean of the new faculty of sciences at the University of Lille. Here, he began his work on fermentation.
He moved back to Paris in 1857, where he took on the role of director of scientific studies at the École Normale Supérieure and he took control between 1858 and 1867. Here, he improved the standard of scientific work.
Pasteur created the Pasteur Institute in 1887, where he was its director for the rest of his life.
Scientific Studies
Pasteur, being a chemist first-off, worked on the theory of optical activity, in that each compound and molecule twisted the light. This was due to the shape of the crystals in compounds, and he is also credited with proving the theory that living microorganisms carry out each type of fermentation. It was at that time perceived that enzymes carried out this process.
He continued his studies after moving from one faculty to the next, and argued the fact that the process was not just spontaneous generation. It was here that he discovered that if a product (for this instance, wine) was heated between 60 and 100 degrees Celcius, it would remove all the excess living microorganisms off the product, and what would be left is the wine. This was later used (as it still the case today) on products like milk.
His work also included that of diseases and germ theory - the fact that diseases appeared as a result of microorganisms and their activities. He found two microorganisms that were devastating the silkworm industry due to disease, and after some personal issues and changes, he continued his work well past retirement.
His work covered a wider range of diseases, including views on anthrax, cholera, rabies and other diseases. Through this, he concluded that the immune system responded as a result of biological and nutritional requirements of the microorganism that was causing the illness. He also formulated that the microbes produce toxins while in our body, and that vaccines should also be equipped with antitoxins to help counter this. He also helped with other views, and specifically from Élie Metchnikoff and his theory that 'phagocytes' clear the body of foreign matter and work as the primary source of immunity.
Legacy
Through his continued work in the field of bacteria and microbiology, he has been named as the 'father of microbiology'. His findings are what have shaped this field for almost 200 years.
Louis Pasteur died in 1895, at the age of 72.
