Semey State Medical University Department of Russian

Semey State Medical University Department of Russian and foreign languages IWS Topic: Robert Koch is the founder of Microbiology Prepared by: Imanova A. 229 g. GMF Checked by: Mukhamedzhanova Zh. A Semey 2015

Plan: Introduction Early Life and Education: Main part Ø Research contributions Ø Anthrax Ø Tuberculosis Ø Cholera Ø Awards and honours Conclusion Literature

Introduction Born in 1843 in Glausthal, Germany, Robert Koch was a childhood prodigy. He taught himself to read newspapers when he was only 5. He loved to read classical literature and was a chess expert. He gained an interest in science while in high school, and decided to study biology. Koch acquired his medical degree from the University of Göttingen, Germany in 1866.

Main part Research contributions Robert Koch was a German physician who is widely credited as one of the founders of bacteriology and microbiology. He investigated the anthrax disease cycle in 1876, and studied the bacteria that causes tuberculosis in 1882, and cholera in 1883. He also formulated Koch’s postulates. Koch won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Anthrax Robert Koch is widely known for his work with anthrax, discovering the causative agent of the fatal disease to be Bacillus anthracis. Koch discovered the formation in anthrax bacteria of spores that could remain dormant under specific conditions. However, under optimal conditions, the spores were activated and caused disease. To determine this causative agent, he dry-fixed bacterial cultures onto glass slides, used dyes to stain the cultures, and observed them through a microscope. Koch is work with anthrax is notable in that he was the first to link a specific microorganism with a specific disease, rejecting the idea of spontaneous generation and supporting the germ theory of disease. Photograph of Bacillus anthracis, the cause of anthrax.

Tuberculosis Koch completed these famous postulates while studying anthrax, but the disease that made him famous was tuberculosis. TB is a lung disease consuming alveoli and other neighboring tissues. Around the turn of the 20 th century, it was the leading cause of death worldwide. In the early 1880 s, Robert Koch was working with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Fig. 3). This organism was of great interest because researchers suspected it caused the widespread, often-lethal infection. Koch made two important discoveries. He found a way of staining human tissue for microscopic examination that showed M. tuberculosiscells as thin blue rods on a brown background of human cells. He also found that M. tuberculosis—a slowgrowing, highly fastidious bacterium—would grow on coagulated blood serum. With these tools, Koch set out to prove that tuberculosis was caused by M. tuberculosis Koch’s tuberculosis sketches.

Cholera Koch next turned his attention to cholera, and began to conduct research in Egypt in the hopes of isolating the causative agent of the disease. However, he was not able to complete the task before the epidemic in Egypt ended, and subsequently traveled to India to continue with the study. In India, Koch was indeed able to determine the causative agent of cholera, isolating Vibrio cholerae. The bacterium had originally been isolated in 1854 by Italian anatomist Filippo Pacini, but its exact nature and his results were not widely known.

Awards and honours In addition to being awarded a Nobel Prize, Koch was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (For. Mem. RS) in 1897. His microbial postulates are named in his honour, Koch's postulates.

Conclusion Robert Koch’s brilliant contributions were acknowledged in 1905, and he won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The medical applications of biotechnology still heavily depend on the Koch’s principles of affirming the causes of infectious diseases. Koch died in 1910 in Black Forest region of Germany. He was 66 years old.

Literature http: //www. famousscientists. org/robert-koch/