Written by Agnes Ullmann
Written by Agnes Ullmann

Louis Pasteur

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Written by Agnes Ullmann

Implications of Pasteur’s work

The theoretical implications and practical importance of Pasteur’s work were immense. Pasteur once said, “There are no such things as pure and applied science; there are only science and the application of science.” Thus, once he established the theoretical basis of a given process, he investigated ways to further develop industrial applications. (As a result, he deposited a number of patents.)

However, Pasteur did not have enough time to explore all the practical aspects of his numerous theories. One of the most important theoretical implications of his later research, which emerged from his attenuation procedure for vaccines, is the concept that virulence is not a constant attribute but a variable property—a property that can be lost and later recovered. Virulence could be decreased, but Pasteur suspected that it could be increased as well. He believed that increased virulence was what gave rise to epidemics. In Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science (1950), American microbiologist René Dubos quoted Pasteur:

Thus, virulence appears in a new light which may be disturbing for the future of humanity unless nature, in its long evolution, has already had the occasions to produce all possible contagious diseases—a very unlikely assumption.

What is a microorganism that is innocuous to man or to a given animal species? It is a living being which does not possess the capacity to multiply in our body or in the body of the animal. But nothing proves that if the same microorganism should chance to come into contact with some other of the thousands of animal species in the Creation, it might invade it and render it sick. Its virulence might increase by repeated passages through that species, and might eventually affect man or domesticated animals. Thus might be brought about a new virulence and new contagions. I am much inclined to believe that such mechanisms would explain how smallpox, syphilis, plague, yellow fever, etc. have come about in the course of time, and how certain great epidemics appear once in a while.

Pasteur was the first to recognize variability in virulence. Today this concept remains relevant to the study of infectious disease, especially with regard to understanding the emergence of diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

After Pasteur’s 70th birthday, which was acknowledged by a large but solemn celebration at the Sorbonne that was attended by several prominent scientists, including British surgeon Joseph Lister, Pasteur’s health continued to deteriorate. His paralysis worsened, and he died on September 28, 1895. He was buried in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, but his remains were transferred to a Neo-Byzantine crypt at the Pasteur Institute in 1896.

During Pasteur’s career, he touched on many problems, but a simple description of his achievements does not do justice to the intensity and fullness of his life. He never accepted defeat, and he always tried to convince skeptics, though his impatience and intolerance were notorious when he believed that truth was on his side. Throughout his life he was an immensely effective observer and readily integrated relevant observations into conceptual schemes.

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