In the footsteps of Koch, Fleming and Darwin.
The work of these three revolutionary scientists has influenced our world dramatically in the last 200 years. This is particularly true for medical practice. Koch contributed to our knowledge of bacteriology – and therefore of the causes of illness. Fleming’s discovery of the healing powers of penicillin saved the lives of millions of people and animals and this earned him a Nobel Prize. Darwin’s work delivered a well-researched explanation for the origins of life in his theory of evolution. Contemplating these giants of science, it is hard to conceive that their contribution could also have significant oversights, even though this is recognised as being something that is true of all great discoveries.
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Cell wall deficient bacteria – germs in disguise
By the end of the 19th century, the founder of the science of bacteriology, Dr Robert Koch, had determined that every type of bacteria had its own unique immutable form and caused its own specific illness.
Bacteria are not nearly as easy to define as previously believed.
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His ideas have been universally accepted as being true. Even up to the present day, his ideas are used as an important knowledge base for medical science. Koch’s work of identifying the different bacterial agents behind specific diseases has been the basis for treating patients suffering from these diseases for more than one hundred years. However, some years later, various renowned microbiologists, such as L.H. Mattman, L. Dienes and G.L. Domingue suggested that our view of bacteria should not be as dogmatic as Koch lead us to believe.
These scientists discovered, described and catalogued the many and varied versions of cell wall deficient (pleiomorphic) bacteria that they had isolated during their years of research. These morphed bacteria are nothing like the rigid form as described by Koch. Not only did they discover the existence of these pleiomorphic bacterial forms, in many cases, they were also able to prove the relationship between them and Koch’s parent form of the bacteria.
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