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| Cytology in Biology and Medicine |
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Cytology – a branch of biology dealing with the structure, function, multiplication, pathology, and life history of cells (1838/39) – created a new foundation for the life sciences: after conducting embryological studies on pathogens, Matthias J. Schleiden (1804–1881) developed the theory of cell formation. Together with Schwann’s cell theory of the animal organism, Schleiden’s theory postulated that the cell was the basic structural unit of all organisms and that the cell nucleus was an essential component of cell division.
Against this background, Friedrich Jakob Henle (1809–1885) used the microscope in an attempt to find the causative agents of disease in 1840. He was aware that pathogens could only be detected in pure culture – an integral component of his theoretical postulates. Practical, experimental verification of his theories – something which Henle himself considered to be impossible – was soon to be provided by his pupil Robert Koch. Koch developed the decisive scientific methods which allowed pathogens to be identified as the causative agents of particular diseases.
"Stativ I" Composed
of Carl Zeiss in 1857. |
| | In 1856 Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) developed cell pathology as a further key element in disease research. He was allegedly content to work with a microscope dating back to the 1840’s right until the end of his life.
The microscope rapidly gained ground as a scientific tool in the last third of the 19th century: with his theory of image formation in the microscope, Ernst Abbe created the foundations for the development of high-performance optics on a sound, scientific basis.
And with the development of new types of optical glass by Otto Schott, Abbe’s theory was successfully put into practice with results that were truly brilliant – in both senses of the word. |
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