Robert Koch Linking Bacteria to Human Disease

Order of Progress Prevention Cause Cure

Biography A doctor who was Born in Prussia in 1843 Interested in Pasteur’s Germ Theory He received a Microscope as a present in 1873 Franco – Prussian Rivalry –Franco-Prussian War 1870/1 –German Government gave Koch money to set up a research institute to rival Pasteur Read Dialogue page 130

Isolating the Germs that caused Anthrax Explain how 1 Sheep and 20 generations of mice allowed Koch to prove that a particular germ caused Anthrax. Explain why he succeeded?

Germ Cultures Koch’s isolation technique pioneered the use of culture plates –He extracted the blood from an infected animal –He found that if he injected an animal with the infected blood it would catch the disease much quicker –The more times he did this the stronger the disease would become –Eventually, this germ could be extracted and be encouraged to breed a pure form in a glass culture plate.

The Floodgates open Using Koch’s methods, other scientists were able to isolate and identify the germs that caused particular diseases List the causes of diseases discovered in the 1880s and 1890s –Page 131 However, knowing the cause of these diseases still did not help to treat any sick patients, yet.

Pasteur Strikes back Prevention Cause Cure

Pasteur responds to Robert Koch Nationalistic Competition –France humiliated by Prussia in 1870/1 war French Government agrees to finance Pasteur –(Koch already receiving German Government money) He had a stroke in 1868 –Feeling mortal?

Pasteur Strikes it Lucky Impressed by Jenner’s work on Smallpox –But Jenner and Pasteur did not understand how vaccination worked –Trial and error Chicken Cholera, 1879 –Common disease affecting farmers livestock –Pasteur experiments with injecting weaker forms of disease into chickens Little success His team goes home for the summer On return, they accidentally use a strain that had been left uncovered for the whole summer It works! Exposure to the air had weakened the germs “Chance only favours the mind which is prepared”

Pasteur perfects his system Page 132 –Explain how and for what diseases, Pasteur was able to develop and perfect his system for creating vaccines. Task page 133 –“Why were the causes of disease finally discovered in the 1860s and 1870s”