Who was Koch and what did he do?

Robert Koch was born in 1843. Koch worked on anthrax and tuberculosis (TB) and he further developed the work of Louis Pasteur. Koch’s fame, alongside that of Alexander Fleming, Edward Jenner, Joseph Lister and Pasteur himself, is firmly cemented in medical history. read more

Robert Koch is widely known for his work with anthrax, discovering the causative agent of the fatal disease to be Bacillus anthracis. He discovered the formation of spores in anthrax bacteria, which could remain dormant under specific conditions. However, under optimal conditions, the spores were activated and caused disease. read more

In 1896 Koch went to South Africa to study the origin of rinderpest and although he did not identify the cause of this disease, he succeeded in limiting the outbreak of it by injection into healthy farm-stock of bile taken from the gall bladders of infected animals. read more