Paper I — 2018 July (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) — Q4
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Paper I
2018 July (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min
Question
List four contributions of Louis Pasteur to microbiology
Q42 marksShort Notes
Answer
Four major contributions of Louis Pasteur to microbiology:
Disproved spontaneous generation — his swan-neck flask experiments demonstrated that microbial growth in sterile nutrient broth arises only from microorganisms already present in air/dust, establishing the germ theory of disease on firm experimental ground.
Pasteurization — developed the process of heating liquids (wine, later milk) to a temperature sufficient to kill pathogenic/spoilage organisms without significantly altering the product’s quality.
Principle of attenuation and vaccination — showed that a pathogen’s virulence could be artificially weakened (attenuated) by serial passage or altered growth conditions, and that inoculation with such attenuated organisms could confer protective immunity; developed vaccines against fowl cholera, anthrax, and, most famously, rabies (the first human rabies vaccine, 1885).
Foundations of aseptic technique/fermentation science — his work on microbial fermentation and spoilage laid the groundwork for aseptic technique in surgery and for industrial microbiology/fermentation processes.
