Jellyfish Age Backwards by Nicklas Brendborg

Author:Nicklas Brendborg [Brendborg, Nicklas/DeNoma, Dr Elizabeth and Brendborg, Nicklas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2023-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

As it turns out, Warren and Marshall weren’t the first scientists to posit a link between infection and peptic ulcers. In the late 1800s, several researchers observed bacteria in laboratory samples from peptic ulcer patients. And at the dawn of the next century, Japanese researchers even brought on peptic ulcers in guinea pigs by using some suspicious spiral-shaped bacteria they had isolated from cats.

The theory never took hold, though, and the last bit of hope was extinguished in the 1950s when a famous pathologist decided to test it. He searched for bacteria in peptic ulcer patients, but found none because he’d used the wrong method.

Afterwards, the idea slipped out of the scientific consciousness, although it occasionally re-emerged – for instance, when a Greek doctor treated his own peptic ulcer with antibiotics and successfully used the method on his patients as well. No scientific journals wanted to publish his findings, though, and no drug companies were interested in the treatment. As a thanks, the Greek authorities fined the doctor and took him to court.

So, opposition to the bacterial theory of peptic ulcers was nothing new. Warren and Marshall managed to convince a couple of microbiologists who thought bacteria were the most fascinating thing ever. But other than that, their theory got drowned out by publication after publication with claims about stress, diet, gastric acid and so on.

It didn’t help that the two Australians had trouble demonstrating their theory in animals. When they tried to infect anything from pigs to mice, the spiral-shaped bacteria simply refused to take hold.

In time, Warren and Marshall grew desperate. They knew they were on to something, and could even cure their patients with antibiotics. So could the rest of the world’s doctors, but only if Warren and Marshall managed to convince the necessary authorities. The only option was to prove their theory in humans once and for all. But how?

With pure Australian nerve, Barry Marshall decided to use himself as a guinea pig. He isolated the spiral-shaped bacteria from a patient, let them grow established in a culture – and then swallowed them. After a few days, he became well and truly ill. Ten days later, the bacteria had spread throughout his stomach, giving him a precursor to peptic ulcers. And, after careful documentation, Marshall used antibiotics to eradicate the infection and cure himself.

The daring self-experiment was enough to finally turn the tide in the Australians’ favour. It would be another ten years before the last resistance was swept off the field (and the patent on antacids expired). However, the spiral bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, was gradually recognised as the primary cause of peptic ulcers, and also as the cause of most cases of stomach cancer.

Victory was sweet for the stubborn Australians. In 2005, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall were awarded the greatest honour in science, the Nobel Prize, for their discovery.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.