The Struggle for Humanity: Louis Pasteur ( NHD State Competition)

Louis Pasteur explored many corners of science. He helped invent new vaccines to cure diseases that people said were impossible to prevent. He encountered many new concepts and studies and exchanged those spectacular finds with scientists from all over the world. His outstanding discoveries shaped the medical and scientific worlds into what they are today. Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France on December 27, 1822. He was born to a tanner, and all he wanted to do was follow in his father's footsteps. That entire dream changed one cold morning as he saw a group crowded in a blacksmith's shop. That day changed his life and the life of thousands. As he neared and saw what the cause of the excitement was about, he watched the blacksmith take a nearly molten iron bar to a child's leg. A physicist of the 1800s named William Buchan said, After all that has been said and little confidence assigned to any practice but that of early cutting out or cauterizing the part, it is nevertheless always necessary that something should be done after the actual commencement of the symptoms of hydrophobia. The child had been bit by a rabid dog who had attacked several people around town. There was no cure at this time and the only chance of survival was to burn the scar tissue with a hot blacksmith's pole. That day was imprinted in Louis Pasteur's memory for years to come. In Arbois, Louis' sister was infected with an illness that would slow her mental capacity which strengthened Louis' desire to become a doctor. Louis first went to a prestigious college but upon getting homesick, he resolved to go to a more local college called Besançon. Louis excelled and went to a prestigious college once more, but due to a law that required all students at Colle Normale to become a professor, Louis was distracted from the racemic acid that The trouble of racemic acid was the mystery of it. A manufacturer named Kessner had previously discovered it in 1822 while producing tartaric acid but could not replicate it. Louis decided that it was up to him to find out why. Louis began his experiments while at Colle Normale but continued them as a professor. In 1848, Pasteur's experiments paid off. Louis encountered that some tartaric crystals were left-facing, some were right-facing. When combined, they would produce racemic acid. That pair of tartaric acid is really the combination, equivalent for equivalent, of these two acids. It is proved by the fact that if somewhat concentrated, solutions of equal weights of each of them are mixed as I shall do before you. The combination takes place with the disengagement of heat, and the liquid solidifies immediately on the account of that the abundant crystallization of peritartaric acid, identical with the natural product. Louis Pasteur and Racemic Acid Experiment. Louis Pasteur explored into the world of chemistry and encountered the makeup of the crystals. After exchanging information with the world and outside to stand by it, Louis gained the fame and publicity that he needed to continue to explore. After this discovery, Pasteur began to focus on germs. They intrigued him, and after many experiments, he developed the germ theory of fermentation. It stated that certain microorganisms were responsible for fermentation. This discovery was a major breakthrough. Pasteur discovered that by simply exposing oxygen to the subject of fermentation, the microorganisms would die. This exploration allowed him to encounter how pasteurization occurred, leading to his exchange with world-renowned figures. This discovery led Louis to explore the pasteurization of wine and beer. Pasteurization prevented bacteria from growing in these two substances. The discovery was so outstanding that Louis was allowed to meet Napoleon III. In 1860, the world of science was alight with the discussion of spontaneous generation. Some maintained the original thought of spontaneous generation, or the idea that life could be created through certain dead items, such as maggots from meat. Others believed that it was impossible for such a thing to happen. In addition, the theory of spontaneous generation stated that the phenomena, such as disease and fermentation, occurred randomly. Pasteur had already once contradicted the theory with fermentation, and later decided to take a stance against the entire thought of Louis became a main advocate for the party against spontaneous generation. In one article that Pasteur read, it stated that life could be generated in the sterile area, such as a clear mountain scene. Pasteur had doubts and tested the theory in an experiment in which he would test the air and water to search for bacteria using a flask of sterile broth. Consistently, germs were present, and Pasteur discovered that the bacteria were found on dust in the air after performing the experiment in different environments. A lot of the folks that were advocating spontaneous generation were saying that you had to have air. And so he allowed air to get in, but he boiled the broth, sterilizing it, we know now, forcing steam out so nothing could get back in. But if it did, it'd get caught in that band. And did you know that in Paris, they have a museum where we still have some of those and they're still sterile? In the 19th century, hospitals were a place to die due to infection. Thus, Pasteur later began to work on the sanitation of hospitals. He came in contact with Joseph Lister, an English surgeon who had read the works of Louis Pasteur and had begun to practice passing all tools through an open flame to kill infection before operation. This had increased the survival rate of amputations by an astronomical amount. Surgery becomes something totally different from what it used to be, and injuries and diseases formerly regarded as most formidable or even hopeless advance quietly and surely towards recovery. Joseph Lister, lecturer in Edinburgh. While previously, a Parisian amputation statistic showed two in five dying after amputation, after this procedure, only six out of 40 lost their lives or nearly one out of eight. Louis Pasteur was invigorated by this procedure and began a campaign for France to put this into action. However, he was prevented by people attempting to stop his advances in science. Finally, Louis raised the funds to promote this procedure and was rewarded greatly. After this success, his friends expected him to settle down and live his life quietly, but he knew that he must still contribute to science. The exchange with Joseph Lister is During the 19th century, anthrax was a killer. It usually targeted animals, but it could also be caught by humans, which caused much death. John H. Bell of the British Medical Journal commented on this disease in an 1800s article. During the last few months, I have seen several cases of external anthrax in prisons who have come in contact with the mohair or dry wolves. Thus, Pasteur began to study it. He observed the anthrax disease and eventually narrowed it down to a certain microorganism. Louis Pasteur observed that the cells that caused anthrax would split again and again to reproduce. He was met by much contradiction and many people criticized him. Louis Pasteur made a statement to the medical community that he would thoroughly clean dressings before applying them to a wound. Louis then went through France with three other scientists attempting to stop outbreaks of anthrax with their newfound knowledge. As they attempted to stop these outbreaks, Pasteur began to search for a cure to this terrible disease. At the same time, chicken cholera sprang up all over the country. Whole yards had been decimated by it in a few weeks when the sick birds were left to run and live at home with the healthy fowls. G.P. Burnham in his book Diseases of Domestic Poultry. Pasteur began to investigate the cause. He began to inject chickens with the disease and continued to create the virus in more liquids. After coming back from a trip, he noticed that the vaccine had been weakened and all the chickens that had been injected with the virus recovered. Pasteur attempted to inject them again, but they were immune. Pasteur discovered the vaccine in Europe. Pasteur then invented the vaccine for anthrax two years later. Hydrophobia or rabies killed many people each year with no cure. After performing experiments on puppies and rabbits, he was finally ready to perform his first test. He performed the test on a young boy against the will of most of the medical community and saved his life. The vaccine that he explored has saved many lives. Louis Pasteur died September 28, 1895. His last words were, one must work, one must work. I have done what I could. Many people attended his funeral in the streets were lined with world troops. Throughout his life, his father, mother, and two of his daughters died early in his career. He also suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed him for the later part of his career. However, he continued to struggle for humanity. As Pasteur explored in the world of science and encountered many discoveries, he was met with much contradiction. However, he continued to struggle for humanity. He exchanged information with British and German scientists as he struggled for this noble cause.