Louis Pasteur, born December 27, 1822 in Dole, France, showed in his childhood and youth great abilities as an artistic painter; however by an age of 19, his interest changed toward science, and he ...moved to Paris to study chemistry and physics at École Normale Supérieure. During graduation, he initiated research on chiral crystallography and stereochemistry and got his doctorates in 1847 in both chemistry and physics. In 1848, he started as high school teacher in Dijon, but shortly after he became a deputy professor at the University of Strasbourg in chemistry and got married to the rector's daughter Marie Laurent. They had five children, of which only two survived. The family moved to Lille in 1854, where he worked as professor in chemistry and became the dean at the new Faculty of Science at the University of Lille. He initiated his famous research on fermentation in 1855. Louis Pasteur moved back to École Normale Supérieure in 1857, where a major part of his innovative research on fermentation took place ending up with the development of pasteurization in 1864. Through genius experiments, he disputed the spontaneous genesis theory and founded the basis for the germ theory, later confirmed by his enemy Robert Koch and several other research teams, which he for lifetime competed with on the cure and prevention against infectious disease causes by both bacteria such as cholera, anthrax, and virus-induced infections as yellow fever and rabies. However, most of his experiments were done on animals since Pasteur and his colleagues at École Normale Superiére were not physicians but scientists. The first successful attenuated vaccine used in humans against rabies was, when the 9-year-old Joseph Meister was cured or prevented from rabies in 1885 after 13 vaccine injections done by the young pediatrician Joseph Grancher. This worldwide known intervention is both world famous and ethically criticized and disputed. The Pasteur Institute was inaugurated in 1888-now an international prestigious research institute-which has been expanded since in a network of affiliated Pasteur institutes over the whole world. There were multiple links to Danish scientists of the 19th century and to the Danish brewery industry. Most well known is the strong friendship between Louis Pasteur and the Carlsberg brewery and especially to its founder Jacob Christian Jacobsen, who was a great believer on a scientific approach to a cleaner fermentation process and better beer quality. Louis Pasteur stands as a milestone example of the fruitful outcome of scientific competition and collaboration and should therefore be remembered as an inspiration for present and future scientists.
A pilot analysis of the tear fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) collected by glass microcapillary was performed using various experimental methods: liquid chromatography-mass ...spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and atomic-force microscopy. Infrared spectroscopy found no significant difference between the tear fluid of MS patients and the control spectra; all three significant peaks were located at around the same positions. Raman analysis showed differences between the spectra of the tear fluid of MS patients and the spectra of healthy subjects, which indicated a decrease in tryptophan and phenylalanine content and changes in the relative contributions of the secondary structures of the polypeptide chains of tear proteins. Atomic-force microscopy exhibited a surface fern-shaped dendrite morphology of the tear fluid of patients with MS, with less roughness on both oriented silicon (100) and glass substrates compared to the tear fluid of control subjects. The results of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry showed downregulation of glycosphingolipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, and lipid metabolism. Proteomic analysis identified upregulated proteins in the tear fluid of patients with MS such as cystatine, phospholipid transfer protein, transcobalamin-1, immunoglobulin lambda variable 1-47,
, and ferroptosis suppressor protein 1; and downregulated proteins such as haptoglobin, prosaposin, cytoskeletal keratin type I pre-mRNA-processing factor 17, neutrophil
-associated lipocalin, and
. This study showed that the tear proteome in patients with MS is modified and can reflect inflammation. Tear fluid is not a commonly used biological material in clinico-biochemical laboratories. Experimental proteomics has the potential to become a promising contemporary tool for personalized medicine, and it might be applied in clinical practice by providing a detailed analysis of the tear-fluid proteomic profile of patients with MS.
The virus can lead to a clinical syndrome, COVID-19, that encompasses mild to moderate respiratory symptoms, fevers, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and even death. 1 At the time of writing this ...(April 5th, 2020), there are over 1.2 million confirmed cases worldwide, with over 300 000 cases in the United States with nearly 5000 deaths and over 66 000 deaths worldwide. 1 This disease was officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, and the Unites States declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020. ...when he returned to the hospital from his honeymoon, he continued to face the same devastating issues of his time; patients were dying from gangrene, erysipelas, and septicemia with an unbearable surgical infection mortality rate.2,3 Unsatisfied with accepted theories on inflammation and infection, Lister continued his scientific research under the microscope, investigating inflammation and how blood vessels reacted under different circumstances. 3 Through a recommendation from his colleague, Lister became familiar with the latest research on fermentation and putrefaction, Recherches sur la putrefaction, by the French microbiologist and chemist, Louis Pasteur. 2 Pasteur’s conclusions contradicted the current belief of spontaneous generation and established the foundation of biology: “only life begets life.”
Philosophers have described several approaches for scientific research, including causal inference and induction, the hypothetico-deductive method, inference of the best explanation, Bayesianism or ...causal network analysis. Prescriptive truth is dependent upon the values that one brings into scientific inquiry. One may oppose the writings of Bertrand Russell and Helen Longino. The former argues that values may negatively impact inquiry, while Longino argues that value-free research does not exist, and we must cope with it. However, Longino proposes a very stringent value-system which does not allow certain research to be conducted. The problem arises when prescriptive truth becomes hypertrophic, self-righteous, rigid, and unconnected to reality, which is the transformation into ideology. Ideological intrusion into science and medicine, such as with Social Justice Ideology (SJI), is indeed a problem in Western democracies. It derived from scholarship originating in the humanities (law, social sciences, branches of philosophy, etc.) and then transferred to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM). The STEMM field was thought to be immune to SJI because of its rigorous methodology, but the hyper-specialization and absence of training in the humanities made it vulnerable to SJI. These intrusions into STEMM and the amplification in the last 2–3 years are potentially due to ‘concept creep,’ psychogenic contamination, herd behaviour and, for activists, strategical equivocation (motte-and-bailey fallacy).
By denying truth and reality, science is reduced to a pointless, if entertaining game; a meaningless, if exacting exercise; and a destinationless, if enjoyable journey. (Theocharis and Psimopoulos 1987)
Now the characteristic doctrine of modern irrationalists, as we have seen, are: emphasis on will as opposed to thought and feeling; glorification of power, belief in intuition ‘positing’ of propositions as opposed to observational and inductive testing. (Russell 1936)
The rabies virus induces a major zoonosis that causes severe nervous disease in humans, leading to paralysis and death. The world’s second anti-rabies center was established in 1888 by Victor Babeș, ...in Bucharest, where an eponymous strain of rabies was isolated and used to develop a method for immunization. The Babeș strain of the rabies virus was used for over 100 years in Romania to produce a rabies vaccine for human use, based on animal nerve tissue, thus having a proven history of prophylactic use. The present study aimed to sequence the whole genome of the Babeș strain and to explore its genetic relationships with other vaccine strains as well as to characterize its relevant molecular traits. After being adapted for multiplication in cell lines and designated BAB-TMP, 99% of the viral genome was sequenced. The overall organization of the genome is similar to that of other rabies vaccine strains. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the BAB-TMP strain is closely related to the Russian RV-97 vaccine strain, and both seem to have a common ancestor. The nucleoprotein gene of the investigated genome was the most conserved, and the glycoprotein showed several unique amino acid substitutions within the major antigenic sites and linear epitopes.
Institut Pasteur and
have enjoyed a relationship lasting almost 120 years, starting from its foundation and the pioneering work of Louis Pasteur in the nascent fields of microbiology and vaccination, ...and blooming after 1986 following the molecular biology/genetic revolution. This contribution will give a historical overview of these two research eras, taking advantage of the archives conserved at Institut Pasteur. The first era mainly focused on the production, characterisation, surveillance and improvement of veterinary anthrax vaccines; the concepts and technologies with which to reach a deep understanding of this research field were not yet available. The second period saw a new era of
research at Institut Pasteur, with the anthrax laboratory developing a multi-disciplinary approach, ranging from structural analysis, biochemistry, genetic expression, and regulation to bacterial-host cell interactions,
pathogenicity, and therapy development; this led to the comprehensive unravelling of many facets of this toxi-infection.
may exemplify some general points on how science is performed in a given society at a given time and how a scientific research domain evolves. A striking illustration can be seen in the additive layers of regulations that were implemented from the beginning of the 21st century and their impact on
research.
and anthrax are complex systems that raise many valuable questions regarding basic research. One may hope that
research will be re-initiated under favourable circumstances later at Institut Pasteur.
Osmanli Devleti, II. Abdülhamit ve II. Meşrutiyet Dönemleri'nde saǧlik alaninda geniş kapsamli modernleşme çabalari göstermiştir. Devlet, Avrupa'dan birçok uzman getirtmiş, yabanci bilim insanlarinin ...eserlerini tercüme ettirmiş ve birçok modern saǧlik kurumlari açmiştir. Tüm bunlar nitelikli insanlar sayesinde mümkün olduǧundan Avrupa'daki üniversitelere ve saǧlik enstitülerine çok sayida öǧrenci de gönderilmiştir. Devletin bu yöntemle hedeflediǧi, özellikle toplum saǧliǧini ilgilendiren yeni gelişmeleri yakindan takip etmek ve de modern teknik ve bilginin ülkeye transferini saǧlamaktir. Mikrobiyolojideki son gelişmelerin yurda transfer edilmesi amaciyla özellikle II. Abdülhamit tarafindan Fransa'daki Pasteur Enstitüsü ile yakindan ilişkiler kurulmuştur. II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi'nde de bu çalişmalar hiz kesmemiş ve Fransa ile ilişkiler devam etmiştir. Osmanli ile Fransa arasinda kurulan saǧlik ilişkileri, Osmanli'da ilk defa modern mikrobiyoloji laboratuvarlarinin kurulmasina, önemli yabanci eserlerin tercüme edilmesine ve modern anlayişta birçok öǧrenci yetiştirilmesine katki saǧlamiştir. Bu öǧrenciler, salgin hastaliklar üzerinde önemli çalişmalar yaheadnotek Osmanli ve Türk saǧlik sistemine hizmet etmişlerdir. Bu çalişmada, mikrobiyoloji alanindaki modernleşme çabalari ve bu alanda öne çikan isimlerin kimler olduǧu eldeki bilgi ve belgeler doǧrultusunda ortaya konulmuştur.
Postbiotics are (i) "soluble factors secreted by live bacteria, or released after bacterial lysis, such as enzymes, peptides, teichoic acids, peptidoglycan-derived muropeptides, polysaccharides, ...cell-surface proteins and organic acids"; (ii) "non-viable metabolites produced by microorganisms that exert biological effects on the hosts"; and (iii) "compounds produced by microorganisms, released from food components or microbial constituents, including non-viable cells that, when administered in adequate amounts, promote health and wellbeing". A probiotic- and prebiotic-rich diet ensures an adequate supply of these vital nutrients. During the anaerobic fermentation of organic nutrients, such as prebiotics, postbiotics act as a benevolent bioactive molecule matrix. Postbiotics can be used as functional components in the food industry by offering a number of advantages, such as being added to foods that are harmful to probiotic survival. Postbiotic supplements have grown in popularity in the food, cosmetic, and healthcare industries because of their numerous health advantages. Their classification depends on various factors, including the type of microorganism, structural composition, and physiological functions. This review offers a succinct introduction to postbiotics while discussing their salient features and classification, production, purification, characterization, biological functions, and applications in the food industry. Furthermore, their therapeutic mechanisms as antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory agents are elucidated.
Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, particularly in individuals with type 2 diabetes. There is a need for new biomarkers to improve the prediction of ...cardiovascular events and overall mortality. We investigated the association of selected atherosclerosis related biomarkers, specifically osteoprotegerin (OPG), 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D), C-reactive protein (CRP), lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), with the occurrence of any cardiovascular event or all-cause mortality (primary outcome) during a 5.6-year follow-up of 190 patients with type 2 diabetes. Data were analyzed using logistic regression to adjust for baseline cardiovascular status and cardiovascular risk factors. The primary outcome occurred in 89 participants (46.8%) during the study. When analyzed individually, 25(OH)D, CRP, and LBP significantly predicted the primary outcome in multivariable models. However, in a model that included all biomarkers, only a decreased level of 25(OH)D remained a significant predictor of the primary outcome. Moreover, the level of 25(OH)D significantly predicted all-cause mortality: a reduction of 10 ng/mL was associated with a two-fold increase in all-cause mortality. Our study thus demonstrates that vitamin D deficiency was the strongest factor associated with the primary outcome and all-cause mortality after a 5.6-year follow-up in patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk.
PDF
