Hideyo Noguchi

Hideyo Noguchi (November 24, 1876 – May 21, 1928), also known as Seisaku Noguchi, was a prominent Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis as the cause of progressive paralytic disease in 1911.

Early Life and Education

Noguchi Hideyo was born in Inawashiro, Fukushima prefecture in Japan. At the age of one and a half, he fell into a hearth and suffered a burn injury on his left hand. Despite this setback, Noguchi decided to become a doctor and entered Saisei Gakusha, which later became Nippon Medical School. He passed the examinations for practice as a doctor when he was twenty years old in 1897.

Career

In 1898, Noguchi Hideyo went to the United States, where he was employed by the University of Pennsylvania as a research assistant. He then moved to the Department of Pathology at the New York State Pathological Institute. His work on snake venom led to the development of a serum therapy for snake bites. He also worked on the development of a similar serum therapy for syphilis.

In 1911, Noguchi made a significant discovery that the agent of syphilis, a spirochete called Treponema pallidum, was the cause of progressive paralytic disease. His work was widely recognized and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine several times.

Death and Legacy

Noguchi Hideyo died of yellow fever in Africa in 1928 while researching on a yellow fever vaccine. His death was widely mourned and his contributions to medical science have been recognized worldwide. His face is depicted on the Japanese 1000 yen note and the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize was established in his honor.

See Also

• Japanese scientists
• History of Medicine
• Syphilis
• Yellow Fever

References

Hideyo Noguchi Resources
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