List of microbiologists

Major contributions to the science of microbiology (as a discipline in its modern sense) have spanned the time from the mid-17th century month by month to the present day. The following is a list of notable microbiologists who have made significant contributions to the study of microorganisms. Many of those listed have received a Nobel prize for their contributions to the field of microbiology. The others are typically considered historical figures whose work in microbiology had a notable impact in the field. Those microbiologists who currently work in the field have been excluded unless they have received recognition beyond that of being on the faculty in a college or university.

Proto-microbiologists (pre-1670s)
  • Marcus Terentius Varro
  • Avicenna
  • Girolamo Fracastoro
  • Marcello Malpighi
  • Athanasius Kircher
  • Jan Swammerdam
  • Robert Hooke

Microbiologists
Birth - Death Microbiologist Nationality Contribution summary
1632–1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Dutch Considered to be the first acknowledged microscopist. Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe microscopic organisms, using simple single-lensed microscopes of his own design.[1]
1729–1799 Lazzaro Spallanzani Italian Proved that bacteria did not arise due to spontaneous generation by developing a sealed, sterile broth medium.[2][3]
1749–1823 Edward Jenner English Developed vaccination techniques against smallpox.[2]
1818–1865 Ignaz Semmelweis Hungarian Demonstrated that doctors washing their hands with chlorine solution significantly reduced mortality of women giving birth in hospital setting.[4]
1853–1938 Hans Christian Gram Danish Developed the Gram stain used to identify and classify bacteria.[2]
1845–1922 Charles Lavaran French 1907 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the causative agents of malaria and trypanosomiasis.[2]
1827–1912 Joseph Lister English Introduced sterilisation techniques to surgery.[2][5]
1822–1895 Louis Pasteur French Seminal discoveries in vaccination, food safety, and microbial fermentation. A key proponent of the germ theory of disease.[2]
1850–1934 Fanny Hesse German Developed agar for use in culturing bacteria.[2][6]
1851–1931 Martinus Beijerinck Netherlands Discovered the first virus as well as bacterial nitrogen fixation and sulfate reduction.
1885–1948 Marjory Stephenson British Pioneer of bacterial metabolism.
1871–1957 Kiyoshi Shiga Japanese Discovered a bacterium causing an outbreak of dysentery.[2][7]
1856-1953 Sergei Winogradsky Ukrainian Discovered the first known forms of chemoautotrophy, in particular lithotrophy and chemosynthesis. Invented the Winogradsky column technique for the study of sediment microbes. Pioneered the study of biogeochemical cycles, particularly the nitrogen cycle and the contribution of nitrifying bacteria.
1854–1917 Emil Adolf von Behring German 1901 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering diphtheria antitoxin.[8]
1857–1932 Sir Ronald Ross British 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes[9]
1843–1910 Robert Koch German 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on tuberculosis; identified causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax.[10]
1845–1922 Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran French 1907 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for recognizing parasitic protozoa as the causes of malaria and African sleeping sickness.[11]
1857–1940 Julius Wagner-Jauregg Austrian 1927 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the neurosyphilis could be treated by inducing fever with malaria parasites.[12]
1866–1936 Charles Jules Henri Nicolle French 1928 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for determining that typhus is transmitted by body lice.[13]
1895–1964 Gerhard Domagk German 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovering the first commercially available antibiotic: prontosil.[14]
1881–1955 Sir Alexander Fleming Scottish 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering penicillin.[15]
1906–1979 Sir Ernst Boris Chain British
1898–1968 Howard Walter Florey Australian
1899–1972 Max Theiler South African 1951 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing a vaccine against yellow fever.[16]
1888–1973 Selman Abraham Waksman American 1952 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for identifying streptomycin and other antibiotics.[17]

Living
  • Ilan Chet (born 1939), Israeli microbiologist, professor, and President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
  • Pauline Johnson, immunologist
  • Rita R. Colwell, American environmental microbiologist who studied the ecology of cholera, former director of the National Science Foundation and president of the American Society for Microbiology
  • Wayne Nicholson, American biologist based on microbiology and cell biology

References
  1. Lane, Nick (6 March 2015). "The Unseen World: Reflections on Leeuwenhoek (1677) 'Concerning Little Animal'." Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2015 Apr; 370 (1666): 20140344. [doi:10.1098/rstb.2014.0344]
  2. Pommerville, Jeffery C. (2014). Fundamentals Of Microbiology. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9781449688615.
  3. dictionary of medical eponyms: Whonamedit - dictionary of medical eponyms, accessdate: September 9, 2015
  4. "Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-65)". London, UK: Science Museum, London-Brought To Life, Exploring the History of Medicine. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  5. "Joseph Lister (1827-1912)". London: Science Museum, London-Brought To Life, Exploring the History of Medicine. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  6. Walter and Fanny Hesse: Walter and Fanny Hesse, accessdate: September 9, 2015
  7. A. F. Trofa, H. Ueno-Olsen, R. Oiwa, M. Yoshikawa: Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga: Discoverer of the Dysentery Bacillus. In: Clinical Infectious Diseases. 29, 1999, S. 1303, doi:10.1086/313437.
  8. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  9. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902". Nobelprize.org. 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  10. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905". Nobelprize.org. 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  11. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1907". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  12. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  13. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1928". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  14. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1939". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  15. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  16. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  17. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
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