Pasteur

Pasteur is a term that refers to Louis Pasteur, a French biologist, microbiologist, and chemist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, and his discoveries have saved many lives ever since. He reduced mortality from Puerperal fever, and created the first vaccines for Rabies and Anthrax. His medical discoveries provided direct support for the germ theory of disease and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch, and is popularly known as the "father of microbiology".

Early Life and Education

Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, France, to a poor family. He was an average student in his early years, but he was gifted in drawing and painting. His pastels and portraits of his parents and friends, made when he was 15, were later kept in the museum of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Career and Research

Pasteur's research showed that the growth of micro-organisms was responsible for spoiling beverages, such as beer, wine and milk. With this established, he invented a process in which liquids such as milk were heated to a temperature between 60 and 85 degrees Celsius. This killed most bacteria and molds already present within them. Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first test on April 20, 1862. Pasteur patented the process, to fight the "diseases" of wine, in 1865. The method became known as pasteurization, and was soon applied to beer and milk.

Legacy

Pasteur's body lies beneath the Institute in a spectacular vault covered in depictions of his accomplishments in Byzantine mosaics. Today, he is often regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory. Pasteur's work gave birth to many branches of science, and he was singlehandedly responsible for some of the most important theoretical and practical developments in modern medicine.

See Also

• Microbiology
• Vaccination
• Pasteurization
• Germ theory of disease

External Links

• Louis Pasteur's Institute

Pasteur Resources
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