"Let me tell you
the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity." This explains the guiding force behind Louis Pasteur's
eventful life. Louis Pasteur was an eminent French Chemist and
Microbiologist famous for his discoveries of anthrax vaccine, microbial fermentation, spontaneous generation experiment and
pasteurization. He also made significant contributions in the field of
chemistry.
Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822 at Dole, France
to a poor catholic family. His father Jean-Joseph Pasteur was a tanner. His primary education was
in Arbois in1831 and secondary school in Besancon. He was an average student
and not studious in particular. His main passion was fishing and sketching. His
famous paintings and pastels are now displayed in a museum of the Pasteur
Institute in Paris. He attained bachelor of arts degree and bachelor of science
degree in 1840 and 1842 respectively at the Royal College of Besancon.
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| Louis Pasteur |
Career :
Louis Pasteur was delegated to the
Chair of Ministry in the faculty of sciences department at the University of Strasbourg in 1848. Later in 1854, he was made
the dean of the new faculty of sciences at the Lille University where he
commenced his studies on Fermentation.
He became the director of
scientific studies at the Ecole Normale
Superieure in Paris on1857 and popularized the standards of scientific
work.
In 1862, he was chosen as the
professor of geology, physics, and chemistry at
the Ecole Nationale Superieure des
Beaux-Arts followed by his resignation in 1867.
In 1887, he set up the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
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| Louis Pasteur working in his laboratory |
Molecular
Asymmetry:
Working as a chemist, he began to research on chemical, optical and crystallographic properties of a group
of compounds known as tartrates. He solved the problem regarding the nature
of tartaric acid. A solution of this
compound borrowed from living things appeared to move around the plane of polarization of light passing through it. The enigma
was that tartaric acid derived from
chemical synthesis had no such reaction although its chemical reactions was
exact and its elemental composition was very similar.
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| Molecular Assymetry |
Fermentation:
Pasteur established the fact that fermentation is generated by the
growth of micro-organisms. While he was working at Lille University in 1856, M. Bigot a local wine manufacturer
approached him seeking his advice to solve the problem of producing a beetroot
alcohol. In 1857, he established the fact that an alcoholic ferment, the yeast
of beer which is present everywhere where sugar is decayed into alcohol and
carbonic acid. A ferment called lactic yeast which is also prevalent where
sugar becomes lactic acid. He established that yeast is the main factor for
fermentation to
produce alcohol from sugar, and that air (oxygen) was not essential. He also proved
that fermentation could produce lactic acid which in turn makes the wines sour.
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| Fermentation process |
Germ theory of Disease:
Pasteur discovered the fact that
activity of micro-organisms on sugar is the root cause for Fermentation. In 1846, a strange disease afflicted silkworms
around the globe. He revealed the fact that
disease was caused by micro-organisms which is in present in the tissues
of diseased silkworms, moths and eggs. He designed
a way to ward off this disease by diagnosing the infected eggs. This was the
first confirmation of micro-organisms causing disease.. Germ Theory of
Disease revealed that some diseases are caused mainly due to micro-organisms. Micro-organisms that
causes disease are known as Pathogens and
these diseases are known as infectious diseases.
Contagious diseases like Flu, Chicken-pox , pneumonia are caused by Microscopic
organisms such as bacteria and viruses.
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| Germ Theory Experiment |
Pasteurization :
In 1864, Pasteur invented Pasteurization which exterminates
harmful bacteria that multiply in dairy foods when it is not refrigerated. It
is a process by which harmful bacteria which are solely responsible for
spoiling beverages such as beer and wine and deadly diseases such as
listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria and brucellosis are killed
by heating milk up to a specific temperature say between 60 to 100 degree
Celsius. Nowadays pasteurization is extensively used in dairy and food
industries to control the growth of micro-organisms and food preservation.
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| Pasteurization factory |
Vaccination:
In 1881, Pasteur implemented a remarkable public experiment
by injecting one group of animals with an anthrax vaccine he developed, but second
control group was not vaccinated. Few weeks later, he injected the live anthrax
bacteria to both the groups, as a result, those vaccinated animals survived. Pasteur's
efforts in the development of rabies and anthrax vaccine became notable among
the public. Despite the fact that Pasteur was responsible for the development
of anthrax vaccine, there are rumors
that Jean Joseph Henri Toussaint a French veterinarian was the first person who
had actually discovered this vaccine.
After his achievements in public experiments. His next focus
was to wipe out a deadly disease known as 'Rabies'
which created panic among the public. This disease was a serious threat to
both the humans as well as animals at the time. He came up with a plan by using
dried nervous tissue of animals that had died from 'Rabies'. The living animals were vaccinated against rabies. He
used the vaccine when a young child was bitten by a rabid dog. He feared that
the boy may die, but he survived, thereby the experiment proved a success. This
sky-rocketed his fame and stature.
Spontaneous Generation theory:
It is a process by which living organisms evolve from the
non-living matter. According to ancient theory, pieces of cheese and bread were
encased in rags and kept in a dark corner, assuming that would produce mice,
because several weeks later there were mice in the rags. Many people were fully
convinced of this theory because it elucidated occurrences as the appearance of
maggots on a spoiled meat. In the 18th century, it became evident that higher
organisms was not originated from non-living matter. But later in the 19th
century, Pasteur proved that micro-organisms could reproduce.
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| Spontaneous Generation Theory |
Awards and
Accolades:
In 1853, the
Pharmaceutical Society awarded Pasteur for the integration of racemic acid.
In 1856, the Royal
Society of London granted him the Rumford
Medal for unearthing the nature of racemic acid and its correlation to
polarized light.
In 1859, he was awarded Montyon
Prize for his observations on Physiology
and the Jecker Prize in 1861.
In 1862, he was awarded Alhumbert Prize for his trial and error practical refutation on
Spontaneous Generation.
Louis Pasteur was named as the Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1869.
In 1873, he became the Commander in the Brazilian Order of The Rose.
In 1874, he was awarded the Copley Medal for his efforts on Fermentation.
In 1883, he was affiliated to the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
as
the Foreign Member.
In 1887, he was delegated to the permanent
secretary of the physical science section of the academy.
Pasteur established the Pasteur Institute in 1887 at Paris,
France. It is a non-profit private foundation committed to the study of
biology, micro-organisms and vaccines. Institut
Pasteur has currently the leading edge in the battle against infectious
disease. This extensive bio-medical research organization stationed at Paris
was the first to alienate HIV, a
virus that caused AIDS in 1983. Institut Pasteur has over the years made
remarkable discoveries to restrict deadly diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus,
tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, influenza, yellow fever, and plague.
Pasteur died at the age of 72 following
multiple strokes in 1895 at Paris. He was buried in the Cathedral of Notre
Dame.
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| Pasteur Institute |
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