HSTCMP 410 A Medicine History Society Microbes July

HSTCMP 410 A: Medicine, History, & Society Microbes July 14, 2016 Laura Harkewicz, Ph. D. 1

Today’s agenda Recap Microscopy Pasteur & Rabies Robert Koch & his postulates The “germitization” of life Mid-quarter evaluation 2

Recap: Vitalism fell to mechanism Eperimental physiology stressed the importance of understanding normal function, not just pathology Stressed necessity of vivisection to learn about these functions Joseph Lister used the germ theory to develop antiseptic techniques for surgery Developments in anesthesia & antisepsis created a new surgical environment 3

Microscopy and animalcules 1670 s – Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723)– first person to see bacteria Called them animalcules Used microscope he made himself (see image at right) 4

Using van Leewenhoek’s microscope Spermatic animalcules 1679 5

Leeuwenhoek’s Inspiration Micrographia by Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703) published 1665 Hooke used compound microscope (image at bottom right) 6

Leeuwenhoeks’ innovations Skill at grinding lenses Naturally acute eyesight Care in adjusting light as he worked 7

What made Leewenhoek special? Curiosity Careful description of what he saw 1683 – Description of contents of own mouth 8

“I then saw, with great wonder, that in the said matter there were many very little living animalcules, very prettily a-moving. The biggest sort. . . had a very strong and swift motion, and shot through the water (or spittle) like a pike does through the water. The second sort. . . oft-times spun round like a top. . . and these were far more in number. ” 9

Ongoing debates about disease causation Diseases and putrefaction Animalcules? Internal stresses? Hereditary? Weather conditions ? Susceptibility/predisposition 10

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 96) Most famous hero of medical science Good at school, but not brilliant Finally, admitted to the Ècole Normale Supérieure 11

Crystals - inanimate vs. living Inanimaterials rotated light symmetrically Living processes rotated light asymmetrically The same chemical produced in nature rotated light one way And the other if produced in the laboratory 12

Pasteur and spontaneous generation Conservative, Catholic, vitalist Debates about spontaneous generation 13

Political connections of debate on spontaneous generation Revolutionary mechanists favored spontaneous generation Conservative vitalists were against 14

Pasteur’s experiments demonstrating non-existence of spontaneous generation Air experiments Heating could prevent infecting sterile infusion Swan-necked vessels could prevent contamination Experiments at high altitudes Something could NOT come from nothing 15

Pasteur & French Industry Worked on economically important problems relating to French agriculture Pasteur was part of effort to couple science to the market place 16

“Our misfortunes inspired me with the idea of these researches. I undertook them immediately after the war of 1870, and have since continued them without interruption, with the determination of perfecting them, and thereby benefiting a branch of industry wherein we are undoubtedly surpassed by Germany. ” 17

Pasteur’s contributions Fermentation, putrefaction, and disease Pasteurization Microbes 18

Pasteur’s vaccination technique “Attenuated cultures” and chicken cholera experiments: Old culture Same chickens , new batch “Chance favors the prepared mind” 19

Pasteur’s vaccination technique and anthrax Anthrax, a disease of the lungs “Cursed fields” phenomenon. Anthrax caused by bacillus. Pasteur looked for ways to attenuate it, and finally arrived at a vaccine 20

The Pouilly-le-Fort Demonstration Ten were left alone 25 were given the vaccine followed by the virulent bacteria 25 were just given the virulent bacteria. The dead sheep would then be buried in a specific enclosure 25 new, unvaccinated sheep would be penned in the enclosure where the dead sheep were buried 25 others would be penned elsewhere 21

Vaccinations administered at the beginning of May Revaccinated a few times May 31 – virulent strain administered to all animals June 2 = “the day of reckoning” 22

Resounding success! 23

Resounding success! All vaccinated sheep survived All unvaccinated sheep died One vaccinated ewe died the next day, but the vet concluded it was due to the death of her fetus two weeks earlier 24

This demonstration did a great deal to strengthen the connection between the laboratory, medicine, and industry 25

The laboratory is applicable to the world 26

Translations & Displacements Displaced: Farm - Laboratory Translated: Microbes (Laboratory) Translated : Laboratory - Farm Efficacy of vaccine Control groups Witnessing & recording Staged Important people present 27

“Pasteurization” In this context means convincing others you are right by using a demonstration that confirms your argument – one you know will work 28

The stage Pasteur staged the demonstration because he knew it would be a success – he had already proven it in the laboratory 29

The world witnesses The demonstration took place at the farm so those in charge of agricultural policy could witness his work in the world 30

Break 31

Pasteur’s work on Rabies 32

Rabies Virus - too small for conventional microscopy Produced a nonvirulent vaccination Tested at different strengths on dogs 33

Joseph Meister On July 4, 1885, nine-year-old Joseph Meister brought to Pasteur. He gave the child a series of injections Last injection contained fresh material The boy survived 34

Success of Germ Theory Pasteur with four rabies survivors Over the next decade, the rabies treatment became standard It was the flag bearer for germ theory Pasteur Institutes were set up all over France and the world. 35

Consequences of Germ Theory Shifted the cause of disease away from internal organs to external invaders Spawned the new science of bacteriology 36

Proof of Germ Theory 37

Robert Koch (1843 – 1910) Used agar-agar, an extract of Japanese seaweed, on a special shallow dish Invented by his compatriot Richard Julius Petri (1852 – 1921). Koch also came up with the four postulates that carry his name: 38

Koch’s Postulates 1) The microorganism must be found in abundance in all organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be found in healthy animals 2) The microorganism must be isolated from a diseased organism and grown in pure culture 3) The cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy organism 4) The microorganism must be re-isolated from the inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as being identical to the original specific causative agent 39

Koch’s Legacy Disease is determined based on a specific microgranism Isolated Bacillus anthracis in 1877 Tuberculosis bacillus in 1882 Vibrio cholerae in 1883 Won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905 for his “investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis” 40

Discussion of Reading How does De Kruif describe Pasteur and his character? What does he say about the consequences from the demonstration? What does he say about Pasteur compared to Koch? 41

The “Germatization” of Life 1906 – playwright mocked popularity of the germ theory in his 1906 drama, The Doctor’s Dilemma. Here, working too hard was framed as a disease. . . George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) 42

Ridgeon: It’s nothing. I was a little giddy just now. Overwork I suppose. . . B. B: Overwork! There’s no such thing. I do the work of ten men. Am I giddy? No. NO. If you’re not well, you have a disease. It may be a slight one, but it’s a disease. And what is a disease? The lodgment in the system of a pathogenic germ, and the multiplication of that germ. What is the remedy? A very simple one. Find the germ and kill it. Sir Patrick: Suppose there’s no germ. BB: Impossible. . . there must be a germ: else how could the patient be ill? . . . There is nothing that cannot be explained by science. 43