Louis Pasteur was born on December 27th, 1822 in a region of Jura, France. Pasteur grew up in the town of Arbois which later became his location and his laboratory. Louis Pasteur is the son of a leatherworker, Jean Joseph Pasteur and an intelligent and kind hearted mother, Jeanne Etiennett Roqui. Pasteur’s strength and thirst for knowledge lead him to break away from a humble background to pursue a career that would ultimately bring breakthrough innovations to the journey of scientific discovery and assure the livelihood of the sick and dying of his time.
The chemist, Louis Pasteur which is also the father of microbiology and immunology, was assigned to crystallize tartaric acid while working for his doctorate degree in chemistry. His research on the molecular structures of this compound led to the launching of a new science called stereochemistry. It was this particular discovery that honed Pasteur with the “inescapable forward moving logic” in his study of alcohol fermentation. After his marriage to the daughter of the Strasbourg University Rector Marie Laurent, Pasteur moved to Lille, France. It was there that his theory about fermentation was put to good use.
In the course of his research, Pasteur subjected the mixture to high temperature. Thereby sterilizing it before introducing pure cultures of microbes and yeast from where a predictable fermentation was achieved. Doing this process without changing the flavor or nutritious value involved in it was developed in 1865 and has been followed ever since. This was used for a few other liquids, but milk was the most useful one. Another useful finding by Louis Pasteur was rabies. He included that the disease rests in the nerve centers of the body, and developed a weakened form of the virus.
Louis Pasteur’s research on rabies led to the establishment in 1888 of the institute Pasteur. This was a special institute in Paris dedicated to treating diseases and remains one of the most important centers in the world. Louis Pasteur’s impact on the field of science and health has greatly affected standards of the healthcare and medicine we receive today. Without his knowledge, research and discoveries, we wouldn’t have known about microorganism and the cure for rabies. This seemingly insignificant area of ecology brought about answers to many unknowns as well as eradicated many common beliefs of the era.
