10 Great Contributions of Louis Pasteur to Science

We invite you to know 10 contributions of Louis Pasteur to science, Known as one of the fathers of germ theory and one of the founders of bacteriology.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French chemist and an important microbiologist. He is known worldwide for his work on vaccination and the process of microbial fermentation. Its main legacy is the pasteurization procedure.

Louis Pasteur's contributions to science Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, painting by A. Edelfeldt in 1885.

Their findings provided clear evidence that germs trigger disease, beginning the era of bacteriology.

Pasteur's most outstanding contributions to science

1- Invented the method of pasteurization

Louis Pasteur studied the harmful effects of microbes on food and through this he was able to invent the process of pasteurization in 1862.

With this method, liquids like milk are heated to a temperature between 60 and 100 degrees Celsius and this eliminates the microorganisms that cause them to be spoiled.

Pasteurization was first used in the French wine industries to save them from the problem of contamination and after that it was transferred to other beverages such as milk and beer.

Pasteurization is currently widely used in the dairy industry and other food processing industries to achieve preservation and maximum food safety.

2 - It showed that the fermentation was caused by living organisms

Between the years 1850 and 1860, Louis Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation was a process initiated by living organisms. It was previously thought to be caused by decaying yeasts.

But in 1858, Louis Pasteoru demonstrated that fermentation was a process that was related to the action of living yeasts, which also produced lactic acid, which makes acid wine.

After further research, Pasteur stated that the growth of microorganisms was what provoked fermentation in beverages such as beer, wine and milk.

3- Louis Pasteur saved the European silk industry

While working on his theory of germs in 1865, Pasteur discovered that a serious disease of the silkworms, the pebrina, was caused by a small microscopic organism which is now known as Nosema bombycis.

By that time the French silk industry was seriously affected and the disease began to spread to other areas.

Through a method invented by Pasteur, it was possible to identify which silkworms were infected and to stop the propagation of this pest.

4- Discovered his first vaccine in 1879

The first vaccine discovered by Pasteur was in 1879, when vaccinating some chickens exposed to chicken cholera. The inoculated chickens contracted the disease, but became resistant to the virus.

After this, Pasteur began to extend his theory of germs to develop vaccines for other diseases like cholera, tuberculosis, anthrax and measles.

5- Demonstrated the importance of temperature in the control of bacterial growth

Through his research with hen infected with splenic anthrax fever, which remained immune to the disease, he was able to report that the anthrax-producing bacteria were not able to survive in the bloodstream of the hens.

The reason was that his blood is 4 degrees Celsius above the blood temperature of mammals like cows and pigs.

Because anthrax is the major cause of death of grazing animals and also occasionally causes human death, the development of a vaccine against this bacterium produced a dramatic drop in the range of infections.

6- Determined the existence of asymmetry in the crystals

Louis Pasteur in 1849, while working as a physics teacher at the Tournon school, studied how certain crystals can affect light.

For this, he solved a problem with the crystals of tartaric acid, which polarized the light in different ways - ones with a rotation in favor of the clock and others against.

With this, Pasteur discovered that the molecule of tartaric acid is asymmetric and can exist in two different but similar forms, as the case of two gloves, the left and right that are similar but not equal.

In addition to this, he continued to study the relationship between molecular configuration and crystal structure, and with this he realized that asymmetry is a fundamental part of living matter and living things.

7- Rediscovered anaerobiosis

In 1857, during a study of butyric acid fermentation, Louis Pasteur discovered that the fermentation process could be stopped by the passage of air into the fermented fluid.

This led him to conclude the presence of a way of life that could exist even in the absence of oxygen. This led to the establishment of the concepts of aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) life. The process of inhibiting fermentation through oxygen is known as the Pasteur Effect.

8- He was the creator of a vaccine against rabies

After his discovery of effective vaccines against cholera of the chickens, he began to study the problem of immunization and apply this principle to several other diseases, as was the case with anthrax and also with rabies in 1885.

His work was revolutionary in the prevention of infectious diseases, which led to saving thousands of lives since then.

9- Demonstrated the veracity of germ theory

Previously, it was thought that the phenomena of fermentation and putrefaction were spontaneous.

For a long time, this theory of spontaneous generation was supported by several scientists of its time, among them the naturalist John Tuberville Needham and the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, count of Buffon.

Others like the Italian physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani thought that life could not be generated from dead matter.

Louis Pasteur decided to clarify this dispute through his theory of the germs, and for this realized a simple experiment: Sterilize a broth by boiling it in a"gooseneck"bottle. This prevented it from entering any type of contaminant, because it has a long neck that traps particles and contaminants before they enter the body of the jar where the broth was.

When the neck of the bottle broke and the broth was exposed again to an unsterile environment, it turned dark, indicating the contamination of microbes.

This experiment demonstrated that the theory of spontaneous generation was not correct, since while the broth was in the jar it remained sterile.

This experiment not only clarified the philosophical problem of the origin of life, but also was the basis for the founding of the science of bacteriology.

10- Founded the Louis Pasteur Institute

To continue the legacy of its investigations, Pasteur founded the institute that takes its name in 1887.

Today it is one of the main research centers, with more than 100 research units, 500 permanent scientists and approximately 2700 people working in this field.

The achievements of the Pasteur Institute are a greater understanding of diseases of infectious origin, and have important contributions in the field of treatments, prevention and cures of infectious diseases that exist until today like diphtheria, typhoid fever, tuberculosis among others.

References

  1. Louis Pasteur. Retrieved from biography.com.
  2. 10 major contributions of Louis Pasteur. Recovered from learnodo-newtonic.com.
  3. Louis Pasteur Facts. Recovered from softschools.com.
  4. 5 things Louis Pasteur did to change the world. Retrieved from zmescience.com.
  5. Louis Pasteur. His contribution to science. I.K. Russell. Retrieved from pubs.acs.org.
  6. Anthrax vaccines: Pasteur to the present. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  7. Louis Pasteur Biography. Major contributions. Retrieved from sites.google.com.


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