Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch were two of the founders of bacteriology. Pasteur developed the process of pasteurization to prevent contamination and disproved spontaneous generation. He also discovered vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and rabies. Koch isolated pure bacterial cultures and invented techniques like the hanging drop method. He discovered the specific bacteria that cause anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera and proposed Koch's postulates for identifying the microorganisms that cause diseases. Both scientists greatly advanced the germ theory of disease.

1. Contribution of Louis Pasteur
and Robert Koch
Dr. K. KANNATHASAN
Assistant Professor of Botany

2. LOUIS PASTEUR’S (1822 – 1895)
CONTRIBUTION TO MICROBIOLOGY
•He used simple sterilization method of heating liquids (wine,
beverages etc) at specific temperatures to prevent contamination. This
process is popularly called as Pasteurization
•He disproved spontaneous generation by boiling beef broth in a
special flask (swan neck flasks) that prevents contamination.
•Louis Pasteur was born on 27.12.1822 in
Dole, France
•He coined the term Microbiology (Study of
Microorganisms with Microscopes)
•In 1857, Louis Pasteur proved that all
fermentation is caused by microorganisms and
that specific microorganisms cause specific
kinds of fermentation.

3. •He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology,
together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch.
•Pasteur’s academic positions were numerous, and his scientific
accomplishments earned him France’s highest decoration,
the Legion of Honor
•He was the founder of Pasteur Institute, Paris.
•He proposed the Germ Theory which states
certain diseases result from invasion of
microorganisms
•Pasteur contributed enormously to the field
of Vaccination. He discovered anthrax,
fowl cholera and rabies vaccines.

4. ROBERT KOCH’S (1843-1910)
CONTRIBUTION TO MICROBIOLOGY
•He studied isolation of bacterial pure cultures using potato slices,
gelatin etc.
•Koch supported Germ theory of diseases and rejected the theory of
spontaneous generation.
•He invented hanging drop technique (1878) to study microorganisms
using a special concave microscopic slide
•He was the first bacteriologist to discover the specific microorganism
which caused Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), Tuberculosis
( Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Cholera (Vibrio cholera).
•Robert Koch was born on Dec. 11, 1843 at
Clausthal, Germany
•He is called as one of the founders of
Bacteriology

5. •Robert Koch proposed the cycle of microorganism in causing
diseases and described four postulates, which are called Koch’s
postulates
•Koch’s postulates are
a) The microorganism is present in every case of the disease
b) It can be cultured outside the body
c) Inoculation of the culture in healthy animal causes same
disease
d) Same microorganism can be found in the animal
• Robert Koch was awarded Nobel Prize (1905) in
Physiology or medicine for his studies on Tuberculosis
• Koch after his extensive studies on Cholera epidemic in India
confirmed the importance of water ‘purification’ in preventing
water borne diseases like cholera