Explain Why Robert Koch Was So Important

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Explain why the work of Robert Koch was so Important? (7 Marks) Koch discovered and developed what Pasteur did not. Using Germ theory, he discovered the germ that caused Anthrax, a disease that affected animals as well as people. This was a phenomenal breakthrough as this was the first time that a specific germ had been identified, this then 100% proved Pasteur’s theory, which then left a wide door open for many more scientists to investigate and discover other specific bacterial germs that were damaging to the human body. The reason this makes Koch so important is because if he hadn’t investigated Anthrax using Pasteur’s theory, the germ theory may never have caught on leaving people to believe false theories for much longer. Koch helped the advancement of medicine and life expectancy take a big step forward. Koch used very interesting methods that enabled him to research bacteria much easier than what other scientists researching the subject could. He used certain ways of staining bacteria so they could be photographed; he did this by using dyes such as methyl violet. He also discovered a way of growing bacteria on potatoes rather than in water, meaning they were easier to see and study, as the solid particles didn’t move, unlike the loose water molecules which moved along with the bacteria. All of the new ways of researching bacteria that he developed, gave Koch a much faster and efficient way of studying the bacteria helping him to find the bacteria for at least 5 diseases, Meningitis, Tetanus, Typhoid, Anthrax, Tuberculosis etc. This also opened up a whole new science, which could be called ‘Koch Bacteriology’, which gave ‘microbe hunters a much faster and easier way of finding bacteria for diseases, helping them to discover 21 more bacteria that caused diseases. The reason this made Koch important was due to the fact that with his methods, many more harmful

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