Koch (Koch), Robert

December 11, 1843, Mr.. - May 27, 1910
German physician and bacteriologist Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was born in Clausthal-Zellerfeld. His parents were Herman Koch, who worked in the management of mines, and Matilda Julia Henrietta Koch (Bivend). The family had 13 children, Robert was the third child's age. Developed not by years, Robert soon became interested in nature, a collection of mosses, lichens, insects and minerals. His grandfather, father, mother and uncle were amateur naturalists and promotes the interests of the boy to studies in natural sciences. When in 1848. K. entered the local elementary school, he already knew how to read and write. It is easily learned Yves 1851. enrolled in school Clausthal. Four years later, he was the first pupil in the classroom, and in 1862. graduated from high school.
Immediately after high school to. enrolled at the University of Gottingen, where for two semesters studying natural sciences, physics and botany, and then began to study medicine. Critical role in the formation of interest in. to research have played many of its professors, in t. h. anatomist Jacob Henle, physiologist Georg Meissner and clinician Charles Hasse. These scientists have participated in discussions about microbes and the nature of various diseases, and the young to. interested in this problem.
When K. studied at the University of GцІttingen, Louis Pasteur published his famous work, which disproved the theory of spontaneous origin of living organisms from nonliving matter and developed germ theory of fermentation. Although Pasteur had not yet investigated the role of microbes in the development of diseases in humans, this assumption has caused a stormy debate. Within 20 years after the publication of the work of Pasteur Jacob Henle in the essay 'On the miasm and contamination' ( "Von den Miasmen und Contagion") formulated the basic idea, . possible to prove, . that some diseases are caused by specific microorganisms - pathogens,
. However, although theoretically contain essays and persuasive arguments, the practical test it seemed from the standpoint of technology of the time impossible.
In 1866, Mr.. K. received a medical degree, and then he had a period of insecurity, when he worked in various hospitals and tried to organize a private practice in five different cities in Germany. K. wanted to become a military doctor or take a trip around the world as a ship's doctor, but that possibility had not been. Ultimately to. settled in the German city Rackwitz, where he began his medical practice and soon became known and respected physician. However, this work is to. was interrupted when in 1870. began the Franco-Prussian War.
Despite severe myopia, K. voluntarily became a doctor and a field hospital here has acquired extensive experience in the treatment of infectious diseases, particularly cholera and typhoid. Simultaneously, he studied under the microscope, algae and large microbes, perfecting their skills in the photomicrographs. In 1871, Mr.. K. discharged and the following year was appointed as a district medical officer in Volshteyne (now Volyntyn in Poland). K. found, . in the vicinity Volshteyna spread anthrax, . endemic, . caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis and is distributed among cattle and sheep, . affects the lungs, . causes carbuncles of the skin and lymph node changes,
. Soon. began to study under a microscope, the pathogen, which is supposedly caused by anthrax.
After a series of careful, methodical experiments, K. found that the sole cause of the anthrax bacterium Bacillus anthracis was. He also proved that the epidemiological features of anthrax, ie. relationship between various factors determining the frequency and geographical distribution of infectious disease, caused by a cycle of this bacterium. Research to. Bacillus-anthracis first time demonstrated the bacterial origin of disease. His articles on anthrax published in 1876 and 1877. with the assistance of botanist Ferdinand Cohn and Julia Kongeyma pathologist at the University of Breslau (now the Polish city of Wroclaw). K. also published a description of their laboratory techniques, in t. h. coloration of the bacterial culture and microphotography of its structure. Studies to. were submitted to laboratory scientists Kongeyma in t.ch. Paul Ehrlich.
Opening for. immediately brought him fame, and in 1880. it was largely through the efforts Kongeyma, became a government adviser to the Imperial Health Office in Berlin. In 1881, Mr.. K. published a paper 'methods of studying the pathogens' ( "Methods for the Study of Pathogenic Organisms"), which described a method of growing bacteria in solid media. This method was important to isolate and study of pure bacterial cultures. At this time the fierce debate between K. and Pasteur, whose leadership had been shaken in microbiology work for. Once K. published a highly critical reviews of studies of Pasteur, . related anthrax, . between two outstanding scientists broke out hard-hitting debate, . lasted for several years, . they were both on the pages of magazines, . and in public speeches.,
. Greatest triumph to
. reached March 24, 1882, when he announced that he managed to identify the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. At that time the disease was one of the main causes of mortality. In the publication for. on tuberculosis were first identified the principles that later became known as Koch's postulates. These principles of 'obtaining conclusive evidence ... that an organism actually directly cause certain diseases' arising from the theses of Henle, are still theoretical basis of medical microbiology.
Learning to. Tuberculosis was interrupted when he was on assignment germanskogo government of a scientific expedition went to Egypt and India to try to determine the cause of cholera. In India, to. announced that he identified the microbe that causes the disease. Opening for. made him one of those, . who determines the direction of health, . and in particular responsible for the coordination of research and practical measures to combat infectious diseases, . as typhoid, . malaria, . rinderpest, . sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) and the plague of man.,
. In 1885, Mr.
. K. became a professor at Berlin University and director of the newly established Institute of Hygiene. At the same time he continued to tuberculosis research, focusing on finding ways to treat this disease. In 1890, Mr.. He declared that such a method is found. K. singled out the so-called tuberculin (sterile liquid containing a substance produced by the bacillus of tuberculosis during growth) that cause allergic reactions in patients with tuberculosis. However, in reality tuberculin did not used to treat tuberculosis, t. to. Protests application of tuberculin subsided, only when discovered that tuberculin sample may used in diagnostics tuberculosis. This discovery played a major role in the fight against tuberculosis in cows, was the main reason for the award to. K. for 'studies and discoveries concerning treat tuberculosis', was awarded Nobel Prize on physiology and medicine. In his Nobel lecture to. said if look back path 'which traversed recent years in combating such widespread disease as tuberculosis, we fail not state that here made first crucial steps'.
. People who know little about AK, often considered him suspicious, and unsociable, but friends and colleagues knew him as a kind and sympathetic person
. K. was an admirer of Goethe and an avid chess player.
In 1867, Mr.. K. married Emma Josephine Adelfine Frats. The family had a daughter. In 1893, Mr.. K. divorced his first wife and married a young actress Hedwig Freiburg. K. died in Baden-Baden from a heart attack on May 27, 1910
To. been awarded many prizes, t. h. Prussian Order of Merit awarded by Germany's government (1906), and honorary doctorates Universities of Heidelberg and Bologna. He was a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Royal Scientific Society, the British Medical Association and many other scientific societies.