Microbiological Massacre of 1917
| Date | 1917 |
|---|---|
| Location | Pasteur Institute, Paris, France |
| Type | Scientific discovery |
| Cause | Bacterial lysis caused by bacteriophages |
| Participants | Félix d'Hérelle |
The Microbiological Massacre of 1917 was the first documented case of mass bacterial destruction by viruses known as bacteriophages. This phenomenon was observed by microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle at the Pasteur Institute in Paris during studies on dysentery.
D'Hérelle noticed that an invisible agent in filtered stool samples from dysentery patients was capable of eliminating the bacteria responsible for the disease. He named this agent a bacteriophage, meaning "bacteria eater." This event marked the beginning of research into the use of viruses to combat bacterial infections.
Discovery
In 1917, Félix d'Hérelle conducted experiments to understand the cause of the bacterial lysis observed in cultures of Shigella, the bacterium responsible for dysentery. He filtered samples from infected patients and found that when the filtrate was added to bacterial cultures, the colonies were rapidly destroyed[1].
Impact on microbiology
The discovery of bacteriophages revolutionized microbiology and paved the way for research into phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics for treating resistant bacterial infections[2].
See also
- Félix d'Hérelle
- Bacteriophage
References
This article "Microbiological Massacre of 1917" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Microbiological Massacre of 1917. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
