Louis Pasteur: Biography, Discoveries and Contributions

Louis Pasteur was a scientist specialized in chemistry and biology born in France in 1822. Among his most important discoveries are his contributions to the development of vaccines or the invention of the system of elimination of microorganisms in foods that bears his name: pasteurization.

Despite not being a student too bright during his childhood, his move to higher education was a great change in their interests. He left behind his predilection for the arts to concentrate on science, especially chemistry. He was a professor at several universities in his country.

This teaching work combined with research throughout his life. He stressed that the government entrusted him with several field tasks, such as the eradication of a plague that was threatening the silkworm industry. Pasteur received a great recognition for the creation of a vaccine against rabies.

This recognition obtained was not only within the scientific world, but in the popular sphere. In fact, it was this support that allowed him to found the Louis Pasteur Institute, thanks to a national subscription. Soon that institution became a world reference in the study of infectious diseases.

Biography of Louis Pasteur

First years

Louis Pasteur was born in the town of Dôle, France, on December 22, 1822. He spent his first years in his city of birth, where he completed his primary education. The future scientist did not stand out in those early years for being too interested in science, but rather his tastes focused more on the arts.

It was his father, who worked as a tanner, who forced him to enroll in the Lyceum of Besançon to complete high school. There, Pasteur obtained the baccalaureate of letters in 1840 and the one of sciences 2 years later.

Higher school and first jobs

When finishing that stage it continued its formation in the Normal School Superior of Paris, although it did not last too much in the center. After a year back in his city, he returned to Paris and, now, he finished his studies.

It was in this period that he became interested in science and, although his first job was as a professor of physics at the Liceo de Dijon, he began to opt for chemistry. In this field he was in which he presented his doctorate in 1847, under the direction of Dumas and Balard.

His first investigations dealt with racemic acid and paratartaric acid. Similarly, he developed an innovative-albeit erroneous-theory about molecular dissymmetry.

Professional life

As mentioned earlier, Pasteur began working as a teacher in 1848 at the Liceo de Dijon. At that time he married the daughter of the rector of the university, Marie Laurent, and obtained the chair of chemistry.

In 1854 he moved to Lille to teach the same subject at the university in the city. In addition, he served for three years as dean of the Faculty of Sciences. Apart from his teaching work, in Lille he developed an important research on fermentation to improve the wine and beer industries in the area.

At the end of his term as dean, he returned to Paris. First he held the position of director of the science department of the École Normale and then he was a professor of chemistry. He was there until 1875, and highlighted his academic polemic against the supporters of the theory of the spontaneous generation of life.

Silkworm disease

A commission from the French government made him travel to southern France to try to find a solution to an epidemic that was threatening the silkworm industry in the region.

The investigation carried out by Pasteur was fundamental to end the plague that affected the worms. During this task he received confirmation of his belief in the responsibility of pathogenic microorganisms in many infections. This was a step forward to develop his theory on microbial pathology.

Other investigations

Another event, in this warlike case, forced Pasteur to leave Paris in 1871. The civil war caused him to move to Clermont-Ferrand, where he did not leave his investigations.

When he returned to the capital, his prestige made him receive a life pension, in addition to his appointment as a member of the Academy of Medicine and the French Academy. He was also decorated with the country's Legion of Honor.

Among the most important contributions in that period can be named his research on cholera, which affected chickens and was the first step for the creation of vaccines.

The vaccine

Another investigation with animals, in this case about the anthrax disease that affected livestock, led Pasteur to advance in the development of these vaccines. In 1881 he discovered how to inoculate animals with weakened pathogens to strengthen the immune system. Soon after, the same principle served to create the rabies vaccine.

These contributions brought him such fame that a popular collection helped him to open the Pasteur Institute in 1888. From this research center he continued to study infectious diseases.

Death

The health of the scientist was very weakened since the hemiplegia he suffered in 1868. The awards and recognitions were constant during those last years, among which stands out an impressive tribute at the Sorbonne for his 70 years of life.

Pasteur died three years after this, on September 28, 1895, in the town of Marnes-la-Coquette.

Discoveries and contributions

Pasteurization

This process that bears his name has saved millions of lives in the world since its formulation. The most accepted theory in his time was that in the fermentation as a chemical process no organism participated. However, while conducting research on wine, Pasteur discovered that two types of yeast were the key to that process.

One type of yeast produced alcohol and the other propitiated the appearance of lactic acid, which was responsible for souring the drink. After that discovery it was proposed to eliminate the cause of wine deterioration.

For this he introduced the liquid into airtight containers and quickly heated it up to 44 degrees. This simple procedure made it free of harmful microorganisms. Since then, this heating method has been used to make numerous foods safer.

Development of the vaccine

Like other important discoveries in the history of science, the first vaccine was discovered by chance. Pasteur was studying how the bacteria causing the cholera cholera was transmitted, inoculating it in healthy animals to investigate its effects.

According to the story that is known, the scientist left on vacation and left to his assistant the task of infecting some chickens with the bacteria before he also took his vacation break.

However, the assistant forgot to do it and, when the two returned to work a month later, the culture of the bacteria was very weakened. Even so, they used it to inoculate a group of birds and they survived the infection.

This gave Pasteur the idea of ​​origin of the vaccine. He exposed those surviving animals to normal bacteria and, since they had created an immune response, survived the disease. After this, he experimented with other diseases caused by bacteria, such as anthrax in cattle, being a success.

Rabies vaccine

Rabies was a deadly disease that caused many victims in animals and humans infected by them. Pasteur started working on a possible vaccine using rabbits to find out what the causative pathogen was.

According to it is counted, in 1885 a boy bitten by dogs with the disease went to that it helped it. Until then, the scientist had only tested the results of his research with dogs and, besides, being a doctor, he risked legal consequences if something went wrong.

Before the sure death of kid and, after consulting other colleagues, Pasteur decided to use his vaccine. Luckily, the treatment worked and the boy recovered completely.

Research on fermentation

Closely related to pasteurization, this discovery took several years from the 50's of the 19th century. He was the first to demonstrate that the fermentation was initiated by living organisms, specifically by some yeasts.

Importance of temperature in the control of bacterial growth

His research with chickens was not only important for the development of the vaccine. They also served to observe how temperature was important for the growth of bacteria.

Pasteur observed that anthrax did not survive in the blood of these birds and discovered that it was because their blood is at a higher temperature than other mammals.

Rediscovered anaerobiosis

In 1857, while studying fermentation, Pasteur discovered that the process could be stopped by introducing air into the fluid.

With this observation he came to the conclusion that there was a way of life capable of existing even without oxygen. Thus, he developed the concepts of aerobic life and anaerobic life.

In the practical aspect, this led to the development of the so-called Pasteur Effect, which inhibits fermentation by oxygen.

References

1. Biographies and lives. Louis Pasteur Retrieved from biografiasyvidas.com
2. BBC, iWonder. The brilliant Louis Pasteur, beyond pasteurization. Retrieved from bbc.com
3. Patiño, Rodrigo. Louis Pasteur Retrieved from revistac2.com
4. Ullmann, Agnes. Louis Pasteur Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Science History Institute. Louis Pasteur Retrieved from sciencehistory.org
6. P.Berche. Louis Pasteur, from crystals of life to vaccination. Recovered from sciencedirect.com
7. Insitut Pasteur. Our History Retrieved from pasteur.fr
8. Zamosky, Lisa. Louis Pasteur: Founder of Microbiology. Recovered from books.google.es