Robert Koch
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Robert Koch
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905
Born: 11 December 1843, Clausthal (now Clausthal-Zellerfeld), Germany
Died: 27 May 1910, Baden-Baden, Germany
Affiliation at the time of the award: Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin, Germany
Prize motivation: “for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis”
Prize share: 1/1
Work
Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious illness affecting tissue, especially in the lungs. Robert Koch, who had conducted a range of important studies on illnesses caused by microorganisms, discovered and described the TB bacterium in 1882. He later studied tuberculin, a substance formed by tubercle bacteria. It was hoped it could be used as a cure for TB, but proved ineffective. Koch didn't believe there was a connection between TB in humans and animals, but he was not entirely correct.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
