Who was Robert Koch? Google Doodle remembers German scientist who won Nobel Prize for research on tuberculosis
The German was a physician and microbiologist whose work on tuberculosis led to him winning the Nobel Prize
ROBERT Koch was a German scientist and doctor who is regarded as the founder of modern bacteriology and whose work saw him win a Nobel Prize.
It was his work and research on tuberculosis - as well as cholera and anthrax - that means his name is still revered and which has seen a created in his honour.
Who was Robert Koch?
Born in Hanover, Germany, on December 11, 1843, and excelled at his studies from an early age - even teaching himself how to read and write before he had even started school.
After a lengthy period of study, he graduated medical school in 1866.
His life then took an unexpected turn when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870.
Koch served as a surgeon during the fierce fighting and following the war's conclusion, went to work for the Imperial Department of Health.
It was here he developed the technique for growing bacteria, which would prove a vital contribution to microbiology and the study of deadly disease.
What was Koch's work on tuberculosis about?
While working at the Imperial Department of Health in the 1880s, Koch began to focus more and more on tuberculosis - an infectious disease which affects mainly the lungs but can affect other parts of the body too.
At the time it was widely assumed tuberculosis was an inherited disease but Koch was sure it was infectious and went about proving it.
Through his experiments, using four guinea pigs, he was able to support his theory.
He also researched other deadly diseases including anthrax and cholera.
In 1905 Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work in tuberculosis - although his attempt to develop a drug to treat the disease was unsuccessful.
More GOOGLE DOODLES
What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Recently, a Google Doodle celebrated the 2017 Autumn Equinox, which marked the official ending of summer and the coming of autumn.