Social media tools and academic publishing
Alan J. Cann, Internet Consulting Editor, Annals of Botany; Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
As publishing moves from print-focused (slow, inflexible, expensive) to content-focused (digital delivery, article-level metrics/discussion), there is an increasing need for publishers to communicate with their audiences in ‘adjacent spaces’ beyond the traditional medium of the journal or book. Social technologies will continue to evolve rapidly for the foreseeable future, so publishers need to acquire sufficient expertise to remain agile in this area in the face of future developments. I will describe the Annals of Botany low-cost online social media strategy, which is extending the reach of the journal to new audiences and new demographic groups. This includees blogs as distribution hubs for content via RSS, Twitter and Facebook, and emerging tools such as Flipboard which allow content discovery on new platforms such as tablet computers.
Envious, I decided to make my own list of microbiology blogs. After checking my Google Reader, I came up with a collection of 20 great blogs. I know there are many more out there, so please feel free to add a comment and suggest any microbiology blogs that may be missing from my list.
So, here they come, in strict alphabetical order:
1 - Aetiology by Tara C. Smith (@aetiology): "Discussing causes, origins, evolution, and implications of disease and other phenomena."
3 - BacterioFiles by Jesse Noar (@BacterioFiles): "The podcast for microbe lovers: reporting on exciting news about bacteria, archaea, and sometimes even eukaryotic microbes and viruses".
4 - Cornell Mushroom Blog by a collective of faculty, staff and students from Cornell University: "Even in the fullness of their horrific evilness, fungi are cool. That’s what we’re all about here."
5 - Curiosidades de la Microbiología[in Spanish] by Manuel Sánchez (@Manuel_SanchezA) (no relation!): "Este blog está dedicado a la Microbiología pero en general cualquier tema científico de interés tambien puede aparecer".
6 - Life of a Lab Rat ("occasional insights into the life of a lab rat") and Lab Rat ("Exploring the life and times of bacteria") by S. E. Gould (@labratting).
7 - Memoirs of a Defective Brain by The Defective Brain: "Science as told by malfunctioning neurones. A blog of Life, labs and bacteria."
8 - Microbichitos[in Spanish] by Miguel Vicente: "Los microbios no los vemos, pero sus efectos, para bien o para mal nos afectan a diario." Previously, Miguel used to blog at Esos pequeños bichitos.
10 - MIKROB(io)LOG[in Slovenian] by Franc Nekrep (@fvnek): "srečevali se bomo mikrobiologi: študenti, učitelji, kolegi iz stroke pa seveda VSI LJUDJE DOBRE VOLJE..."
11 - MycoRant by Philip McIntosh (@MycoRant): "Philip has been writing, researching, publishing and doing other things in the realm of fungi since 1993".
12 - Mystery Rays from Outer Space by Ian York (@iayork): "This blog is intended to be a place for commentary on immunology, virology, and random other stuff that catches my eye."
14 - Small Things Considered by Elio Schaechter, Merry Youle and collaborators: "The purpose of this blog is to share my appreciation for the width and depth of the microbial activities on this planet".
15 - The Artful Amoeba by Jennifer Frazer (@JenniferFrazer): "a blog about the weird wonderfulness of life on Earth". Older posts can be found here.
17 - The Gene Gym by Jim Caryl (@mentalindigest): "Bad bugs, drugs and antibiotic resistance, all in a day's work at The Gene Gym, brought to you from the gym floor by a researcher (fitness instructor) in bacterial evolution".
18 - The Tree of Life by Jonathan Eisen (@phylogenomics), "evolutionary biologist, microbiologist and genomics researcher, Open Access and Open Science advocate".
19 - ViroBlogy by Ed Rybicki (@edrybicki): "Up-to-date Virology-related posts, mainly for students at the University of Cape Town".
20 - Virology blog by Vincent Racaniello (@profvrr): "about viruses and viral disease".
Note: I don't speak French or Slovenian, but that's what Google Translate is for, isn't it?
"Soil bacteria from the Streptomyces genus represent a source of interesting natural products that have been largely overlooked by artists, researchers, and teachers. This article is intended to encourage amateurs and professionals alike to explore this overflowing source of biopigments. Not only does this endeavor have the potential to lead us toward a fertile nexus between art and science, it may also lead to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way to color the world around us in the future. The relevance of biopigments to many facets of science, technology, and society, makes this material an outstanding tool to engage students of varying academic interests across multiple age groups. Therefore, we encourage teachers of all levels to consider using biopigments as a vehicle to introduce the scientific method to their students. To facilitate the implementation of biopigments into science and art curricula, we have provided a list of useful online resources and information about procuring materials [...] as well as recommend ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the lesson [...]."
Original article (and image source): Charkoudian LK, Fitzgerald JT, Khosla C, Champlin A (2010) In Living Color: Bacterial Pigments as an Untapped Resource in the Classroom and Beyond. PLoS Biol 8(10): e1000510. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000510 Image: “Elvis Lives!” painted on agar media plates using the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor.
Related links: - Microbial Art, a collection of unique artworks created using living bacteria, fungi, and protists. - Painting With Penicillin: Alexander Fleming's Germ Art. The scientist created works of art using microbes, but did his artwork help lead him to his greatest discovery? By Rob Dunn. Smithsonian.com, July 12, 2010. - Streptomyces: they're twisted!Twisted Bacteria, Aug 10, 2007.
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "ideas worth spreading." They are mostly known because of their growing collection of fascinating talks about a wide array of topics, including science, art and anything in-between (or around). The talks are recorded and the videos are freely available at their website, where you can also find information about the speakers and interactive transcripts (including translations to various languages).
In this post I'm collecting links to all the TED videos I could find related to the microbial world.
Topics include: life in the deep oceans, medical mysteries, bacterial Esperanto, predicting pandemics, robots turned into microbiologists, new approaches to handle infectious diseases, looking for life on Mars and beyond, fungi that could save the world, bacteria that may have caused mass extinctions...
I also recommend reading this interview on the TED blog, where Seth Berkley commented on the same subject. I am copying here a few remarkable quotes:
I was very disappointed by public concerns that we ordered too much flu vaccine and that some might get wasted. (...) I think that both declaring this a global pandemic and accelerating vaccine production as quickly as possible were the right decisions. If you want to prepare a population for an emergency it means that you might ultimately spend some money that isn’t used.
That's a good point. Many criticisms have been raised in the last months against WHO decisions in relation to the recent flu pandemic. And some of those criticisms were undeserved, in my opinion.
In the interview, Berkley explained why so much effort was put on developing treatments --rather than preventive vaccines-- for AIDS. And he described the extraordinary work they're doing with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
To the question "Are the members of the younger generation of scientists as invested in creating a vaccine as was the case 10 years ago or so?" he responded:
Sadly not. (...) The problem is not that young scientists don’t think vaccines are incredibly important, the problem is that it is seen as such a difficult problem, such a long-term problem that what they’re worried about is: Can they build a career on it? Can they get the types of breakthroughs they need in a rapid time frame that would make it a productive place to work?
It is disturbing that the "productivity" concept not only is doing harm to many researchers' careers but may also be slowing down the development of much-needed medical treatments...
Why not focus just on the treatment of infected people, and forget about an AIDS vaccine? Berkley explained:
(...) from a public policy point of view, there’s great expense involved in dealing with the epidemic through treatment and reaching people when they’re already infected. (...) But this is a long-term entitlement program, because once you put somebody on treatment, they have to get treatment for the rest of their lives and they develop conditions, they develop toxicity and they need other treatments. So, there’s almost a sense now that all of the bright lights of that unbelievable effort -- the unprecedented emergency program for AIDS relief, Bush’s triumph that people look on as being a great thing that he did, will create a demand that gets higher and higher and higher just to keep up with where we are.
So, making an effective vaccine against AIDS may be very difficult. But it is worth the effort.
And finally, as promised, this is the list of other TED videos related to the small living beings (in chronological order, newest first):
[Added October 15th, 2010 -- Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic? "Product designer Eben Bayer reveals his recipe for a new, fungus-based packaging material that protects fragile stuff like furniture, plasma screens -- and the environment." July 2010. Found via MicrobiologyBytes.]
Magnus Larsson: Turning dunes into architecture. "Architecture student Magnus Larsson details his bold plan to transform the harsh Sahara desert using bacteria and a surprising construction material: the sand itself." July 2009.
Nathan Wolfe: hunting the next killer virus. "Virus hunter Nathan Wolfe is outwitting the next pandemic by staying two steps ahead: discovering deadly new viruses where they first emerge -- passing from animals to humans among poor subsistence hunters in Africa -- before they claim millions of lives." February 2009.
Bonnie Bassler: discovering bacteria's amazing communication system. "Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning implications for medicine, industry -- and our understanding of ourselves." February 2009.
Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals. "Hans Rosling unveils new data visuals that untangle the complex risk factors of one of the world's deadliest (and most misunderstood) diseases: HIV. He argues that preventing transmissions -- not drug treatments -- is the key to ending the epidemic." February 2009.
Kary Mullis' next-gen cure for killer infections. "Drug-resistant bacteria kills, even in top hospitals. But now tough infections like staph and anthrax may be in for a surprise. Nobel-winning chemist Kary Mullis, who watched a friend die when powerful antibiotics failed, unveils a radical new cure that shows extraordinary promise." February 2009.
James Nachtwey fights XDR-TB. "Photojournalist James Nachtwey sees his TED Prize wish come true, as we share his powerful photographs of XDR-TB, a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis that's touching off a global medical crisis. Learn how to help at http://www.xdrtb.org" October 2008.
Paul Stamets: six ways mushrooms can save the world. "Mycologist Paul Stamets lists 6 ways the mycelium fungus can help save the universe: cleaning polluted soil, making insecticides, treating smallpox and even flu." March 2008.
Peter Ward: Earth's mass extinctions. "Asteroid strikes get all the coverage, but "Medea Hypothesis" author Peter Ward argues that most of Earth's mass extinctions were caused by lowly bacteria. The culprit, a poison called hydrogen sulfide, may have an interesting application in medicine." February 2008.
Paul Ewald: can we domesticate germs? "Evolutionary biologist Paul Ewald drags us into the sewer to discuss germs. Why are some more harmful than others? How could we make the harmful ones benign? Searching for answers, he examines a disgusting, fascinating case: diarrhea.". March 2007. (I embedded this video in a previous post.)
Bill Stone explores the world's deepest caves. "Bill Stone, a maverick cave explorer who has plumbed Earth’s deepest abysses, discusses his efforts to mine lunar ice for space fuel and to build an autonomous robot for studying Jupiter’s moon Europa." "How do you take a robot and turn it into a field microbiologist?" March 2007.
Laurie Garrett on lessons from the 1918 flu. "In 2007, as the world worried about a possible avian flu epidemic, Laurie Garrett, author of "The Coming Plague," gave this powerful talk to a small TED University audience. Her insights from past pandemics are suddenly more relevant than ever." February 2007.
Penelope Boston says there might be life on Mars. "So the Mars Rovers didn't scoop up any alien lifeforms. Scientist Penelope Boston thinks there's a good chance -- a 25 to 50 percent chance, in fact -- that life might exist on Mars, deep inside the planet's caves. She details how we should look and why." February 2006.
Larry Brilliant wants to stop pandemics. "Accepting the 2006 TED Prize, Dr. Larry Brilliant talks about how smallpox was eradicated from the planet, and calls for a new global system that can identify and contain pandemics before they spread". February 2006.
Joe DeRisi solves medical mysteries. "Biochemist Joe DeRisi talks about amazing new ways to diagnose viruses (and treat the illnesses they cause) using DNA. His work may help us understand malaria, SARS, avian flu -- and the 60 percent of everyday viral infections that go undiagnosed." February 2006.
David Gallo on life in the deep oceans. "With vibrant video clips captured by submarines, David Gallo takes us to some of Earth's darkest, most violent, toxic and beautiful habitats, the valleys and volcanic ridges of the oceans' depths, where life is bizarre, resilient and shockingly abundant." February 1998.
National Public Radio (NPR) is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States.
NOTE added on May 7th, 2010: For a thorough list of candidate state microbes, see State Microbes at Small Things Considered, May 6th, 2010.
NOTE added on October 11th, 2010: More suggestions (including several streptomycetes) by Joan W. Bennett & Douglas Eveleigh (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey): State Microbes, Microbe magazine, October 2010.
Vincent Racaniello is a well-known Professor of Microbiology at Columbia University Medical Center, New York. As a complement to his research and his classes on virology, he successfully uses different social media tools (blogging, podcasting, microblogging) to spread the love for viruses -- I mean, to teach the public about viruses (the kind that make you sick... or not). The following video is a recording of a great talk he gave at the Spring 2010 meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, UK. In this presentation he explains -- in simple terms -- how he uses blogging, podcasting, and other social media tools for the popularization of virology.
I'm wondering if the talk could convince a few of the microbiologists in the audience to jump on the social media bandwagon...? Anyone?
You can read about the current state of the disease -- which kills almost two million people every year -- here: A world free of TB (Word Health Organization).
"If the right action is not taken right now, the continuing spread of MDR-TB [multidrug-resistant tuberculosis] could transform a disease that is curable with affordable medicines into a costly and deadly epidemic. If the right action is not taken right now, the continuing rise of XDR-TB [extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis] could take the world back to the era that predates the development of antibiotics, with nothing in hand to guarantee treatment success."
"The microbial world has given us a clear either-or situation. Either we tackle the problem now with rational and proven approaches, or we pay later with an epidemic of an airborne disease that renders our modern-day medicines and straightforward treatment regimens obsolete. This would truly be a tragedy, on a huge and costly scale, that should not happen."
Related links: - World TB Day.Twisted Bacteria, March 24th, 2008. - An 'open source' approach to drug discovery.Twisted Bacteria, July 1st, 2008. - Robert Koch y la tuberculosis.En Días Como Hoy, RTVE.es , 24 de marzo, 2010. [In Spanish] Se trata de un fragmento de un programa de radio (dos minutos y medio) en el que Nieves Concostrina nos recuerda, de forma amena, el momento en que el gran Robert Koch presentó al mundo la bacteria causante de esta enfermedad ("su bacilo").
A few days ago, the UK postal service issued a new series of stamps featuring 10 eminent scientists to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. The image above shows two of the stamps, depicting Edward Jennner (1749-1823) and Joseph Lister (1827-1912) -- who are considered the 'fathers' of vaccination and antiseptic surgery, respectively. They both had a rough time trying to convince their fellow physicians to accept their proposed methods as good and useful practices. But they eventually succeeded, and millions of lives were saved. It is noteworthy that Jenner was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1789 thanks to his research on cuckoos (the birds, not the clocks). He was a 'natural scientist' and studied a variety of issues ranging from fossils to animal behaviour, and from balloons to medicine. It was in 1796 when he carried out his famous experiments, showing that people could be protected against the deadly smallpox by inoculating them with cowpox (a mild, related disease). Although the basic rationale behind Jenner's technique was not novel (but this was not the reason why the Royal Society rejected his original report!), his careful studies and his tenacity were fundamental for a wide progressive adoption of vaccination. Now --two centuries later-- the world can celebrate the 30th anniversary of smallpox eradication. This deserves a stamp or two, doesn't it?
Now, let's turn our look to Joseph Lister. He introduced phenol (carbolic acid) to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds. As a result, post-operative infections were greatly reduced, and many lives (and body parts that otherwise would be amputated) were saved. Because of these achievements, Lister was not only elected fellow but president of the Royal Society (between 1895 and 1900), and his name was given to a bacterium ...and a mouthwash (what an honour!).
Anyway, it seems that there was some kind of infectious hunger for 'small knowledge' at the Listers' house, as Joseph was not the only one interested in the microscopic world. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister (1786-1869), made crucial advances toward correcting image aberrations in microscopes (and he was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1832). After his work, the improved microscopes became powerful instruments, allowing more detailed observations of specimens and, hence, the birth of modern histology.
Now this may not come as a surprise to you, but (at least) two other members of the family were also elected fellows of the Royal Society. They were Arthur Lister (1830-1908, Joseph's brother) and Gulielma Lister (1860-1949, Arthur's daughter). Arthur and Gulielma became renowned botanists and mycologists, and world experts in mycetozoa (myxomycetes, slime molds). I'm wondering if they started by playing with J.J.'s old microscope? Gulielma's achievements are especially remarkable in a time (early 1900's) when very very few women were allowed to excel in science: she was a founding member of the British Mycological Society (and president in two occasions), as well as fellow, council member and vice-president of the Linnaean Society. Does anybody know of a stamp featuring Gulielma? Probably not (yet) but this could be a good topic for the next International Women's Day...
Joseph Lister and his relatives: - Joseph Lister: Surgery Transformed, a video produced by British Medical Journal Media. - Joseph Jackson Lister (1786-1869), Pioneers in Optics. Science Optics & You, Molecular Expressions. - Early Myxomycetologists (including Arthur and Gulielma Lister), Myxoweb. - Gulielma Lister (1860-1949), biography, Wanstead Wildlife. - Biography of Gulielma Lister (1860-1949), The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. By Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, Joy Dorothy Harvey.
The Poetry of Reality is the fifth installment in the Symphony of Science music video series. It features 12 scientists and science enthusiasts, including Michael Shermer, Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Carolyn Porco, and PZ Myers, promoting science through words of wisdom.
Additional links: - Symphony of Science, "a musical project headed by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form." - Symphony of Science - The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science), with Spanish subtitles (con subtítulos en castellano)
Lucky me, I am enjoying a few weeks with my partner in Geneva, Switzerland. During one of our first walks around the city, we noticed a big purple balloon on a small island in the Rhone river. Once we got closer (there is a bridge, no need to swim), we realized that this was no balloon --but a giant cell nucleus. The bright purple dome, 14 meters in diameter, hosts an exhibition entitled Génome: voyage au coeur du vivant (Genome: a journey to the centre of life), or The secret of life (this subtitle appears on the English-version booklet).
Inside the dome --the cell nucleus-- we enjoyed a multifaceted, imaginative and colourful (even psychedelic?) introduction to genetics and the human genome: from Rosalind Franklin to genome sequencing, from DNA replication to dimples. But let me quote from the first page of the booklet, where the purpose of the exhibition is clearly described:
Dear VISITOR
We would like to take a minute of your time to explain that
AN EXHIBITION IS FICTION
The wonderful world of the genome, which you will discover here, is an interpretation of reality. A purely scientific explanation could be difficult to understand. On the other hand an over-simplified one would not do justice to the astonishing ingenuity of nature.
You are about to enter a complex universe which is invisible to the naked eye. By using comparison and metaphor, a touch of poetry and humour, we hope that you will be both entertained and informed.
Please remember this message because it is true of all exhibitions; they are all interpretations of reality to a greater or lesser degree.
What an excellent description of what science communication to the general public should be! A delicate balance between (boring?) scientific information and (useless?) entertaining.
Did the Génome organizers accomplished their purpose? Well, they did it for us. You still have till February 28th to judge for yourself but, if you cannot make it to Geneva in time, the following video may give you a vague indication of what's going on inside the purple nucleus:
Génome: voyage au coeur du vivant has something for everyone. Science geeks may especially enjoy the awesome animations created by Drew Berry (including the one projected on the 360-degree screen over our heads!). Perhaps the name of this biologist and animator from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Biomedical Research, Australia, does not ring a bell with you. But I'm almost certain that you have seen some of his award-winning films. See, for instance, the following selection:
The Génome booklet ends with some interesting "food for thought":
Perhaps we should take a philosophical view and agree that, in order to live life to the full, we humans will always need uncertainty!
Well put. And this goes far beyond genetics and evolution...
A long time ago I added a video bar on the side of my blog (only on main page), under the following title: "Microbial" videos (live search). The thing uses some microbial-related terms to automatically retrieve videos from YouTube, Google Videos and the like. This way I found a very nice "brickfilm" that is displayed below. The brickfilm (a stop-motion animation using LEGO or other brick-like elements) is called Great microbiologists and takes a funny look at microbiology and its early history. It was made in 2006 to commemorate the graduation of two students from the Microbiology department at Colorado State University. I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do.
Notes and related links:
- About the video bar: "Microbial" videos (live search) The video bar is only visible on the main page of my blog, not on individual posts. It uses a Google AJAX Search API (whatever this may be) that can be found at Video Bar Wizard. You can use this "wizard" to add a similar video bar to your blog and display either a live search (as I did) or a set of selected channels. Of course, the automated search may retrieve both relevant and totally irrelevant videos, depending on your choice of search terms. - About the brickfilm "Great microbiologists" Watch the video at YouTube Read more information and download the film at Brickfilms.com
In this short Disney film (The Winged Scourge, 1943), the Seven Dwarfs teach us how to protect ourselves from the mosquitoes that transmit malaria. But some of their methods may not be quite advisable today...
Thanks to MicrobeWorld for letting me know about this video!
A collection of old Disney documentaries (including this one) can be viewed at thelostdisney channel on YouTube.
The following videos are short educational films made in the 1940s and 1950s and provide some basic knowledge on infectious diseases and microbiology. How much has this basic knowledge changed after half a century? Which specific statements in the videos should be changed (and why) if you wanted these films to comply with today's microbiology? Please leave any comments here.
The three videos were uploaded onto Google Video by A/V Geeks. They have been digitizing thousands of TV commercials held at Duke University’s Hartman Center for Advertising.
THE INFECTION HAS TAKEN HOLD. Nearly 30,000 individuals have already been exposed to the INFECTIOUS exhibition in the Science Gallery. If you are brave enough to enter the containment zone on Pearse Street you are advised to wear protective clothing. INFECTIOUS is a major new exhibition exploring mechanisms of contagion and strategies of containment through science and art including a live epidemic simulation, an opportunity to have your DNA swabbed from your cheek and analysed and to get up close and intimate with a Petri dish as you cultivate the bacteria from your lips in our Kiss Culture experiment.
Just for fun, I searched Twitter using some microbial-related terms (not many, as the query cannot be more than 140 characters long!). I have added an RSS feed for this query to the side bar on this blog.
[Note (added on 15th Nov): I removed the RSS feed from the side bar -- the automated search was not very useful]
Is Twitter useful for scientists or for science educators? For some, it seems to be.
Will Twitter (or a similar tool) be of general use among scientists in a near future? Perhaps.
As a new user, I know very little about Twitter. But interesting things are happening there.
I just find difficult to make sense out of most of them...
The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (Wiley) contains more than 4,300 articles. At the time of writing this, over 50 articles were freely available as sample content.
"The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) presents Immune Attack™, an educational video game that introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students. Designed as a supplemental learning tool, Immune Attack aims to excite students about the subject, while also illuminating general principles and detailed concepts of immunology."
"Tuberculosis is an airborne infectious disease that is preventable and curable. People ill with TB bacteria in their lungs can infect others when they cough. An estimated 1.5 million people died from TB in 2006. In addition, another 200,000 people with HIV died from HIV-associated TB. If TB disease is detected early and fully treated, people with the disease quickly become non-infectious and eventually cured. Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), HIV-associated TB, and weak health systems are major challenges."
"WHO is working to dramatically reduce the burden of TB, and halve TB deaths and prevalence by 2015, through its Stop TB Strategy and supporting the Global Plan to Stop TB."
"Worldwide efforts to confront tuberculosis are making progress, but too slowly"
"World TB Day - March 24th World TB Day, falling on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of several million people each year, mostly in the third world. 24 March commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis."
