Science knows no country: fulfilling Louis Pasteur's legacy

2022 marks the bicentenary of Louis Pasteur's birth. Pasteur's discoveries helped lay the foundation of modern public health, microbiology, and medicine. His legacy echoes in the many streets, schools, and hospitals that bear his name, and in the widespread use of pasteurised food worldwide. After his pioneering work on veterinary vaccines, Pasteur developed the rabies vaccine for humans in 1885, the success of which led to the foundation of a dedicated institute in Paris, France. 1 Debré P Louis Pasteur. Flammarion, Paris1995 Google Scholar The Institut Pasteur was registered in 1887 as a private foundation of public utility, and its statutes state that the institute's dual purposes were “the treatment of rabies according to the method developed by M. Pasteur” and “the study of virulent and contagious diseases”. 2 Morange M L'Institut Pasteur: contributions à son histoire, histoire des sciences. Editions La Découverte, Paris1991 Google Scholar In the years after its inauguration, Pasteur and his colleagues laid the foundation for the Institut Pasteur's global network with the formation of satellite institutes in what is now Ho Chi Minh City (1891), Tunis (1893), Algiers (1894) and, after Pasteur's death in 1895, in Senegal (1896) and Brazzaville (1908). Additional institutes outside of the French colonial empire followed, including in Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Athens, Tehran, and St Petersburg. Over time, more Pasteur Network members 3 Pasteur NetworkMembers of the Pasteur Network. https://pasteur-network.org/en/members/Date: 2022 Date accessed: November 15, 2022 Google Scholar and other institutions have joined, and sometimes left, the network but always under the auspices of national governments and with a commitment to support the Pasteur Network Charter, 4 Institut Pasteur Directions des Affaires InternationalesPasteur Network Charter. https://www.pasteur.fr/sites/default/files/rubrique_linstitut_pasteur/linstitut_pasteur_dans_le_monde/le_reseau_international_des_instituts_pasteur/charte_riip.pdfDate: 2004 Date accessed: November 15, 2022 Google Scholar which promotes autonomy, collective action, and knowledge sharing to address scientific and public health challenges. Pasteur's legacy in 21st century medicineThe Lancet bids 2022 adieu with a commemoration of Louis Pasteur. Born in France on Dec 27, 1822, Pasteur was a young polymath when he embarked on a path of discovery with profound societal relevance. By the age of 40 years, he was a national hero and an international authority on microbiology, vaccines, and immunology. His germ theory of disease laid the foundation for hygiene and sanitation within public and global health. He developed the first vaccine against human rabies in 1885. Along with other great scientists of his time, Pasteur shaped scientific reasoning and communication for the better, creating a legacy that catalysed progress in human health that has been sustained for the past 150 years. Full-Text PDF Research focus: Pasteur Institute of DakarFrom yellow fever to COVID-19, the Pasteur Institute of Dakar has been leading African health research and response. Talha Burki reports. Full-Text PDF Louis Pasteur's public engagementConcern with public engagement by scientists and doctors is nothing new, but one of its consummate early practitioners was born 200 years ago. Louis Pasteur (1822–95) was not a natural communicator with ordinary people from the wider community. Shy and reserved, he was happiest when he was working in the laboratory, but he was deeply committed to the value of science in human affairs and used his own research to further that message. He was also intensely and successfully ambitious, both for himself and his family, and for the scientific ideas he espoused. Full-Text PDF Building on Pasteur's legacy: producing vaccines in AfricaLouis Pasteur's legacy of translating scientific knowledge on vaccines to create a healthier world resonates with his comment that “Science knows no country because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.”1 However, during the COVID-19 pandemic vaccine knowledge has not belonged to humanity, leading to global vaccine inequity2 and attempts to obstruct Africa, the world's poorest continent, from manufacturing mRNA vaccines for those most in need. Full-Text PDF Louis Pasteur, COVID-19, and the social challenges of epidemicsDecember, 2022, will see two notable anniversaries: the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Pasteur and the third anniversary of China's announcement of the outbreak that would lead to the COVID-19 pandemic. These coinciding events provide an opportunity to reflect on past and current global challenges to bring epidemics under control. Pasteur himself was inextricably connected with a late 19th-century social hygienist movement to promote the health of populations and cities.1 With other noteworthy scientists, including Robert Koch, Agostino Bassi, and Joseph Lister, Pasteur helped to generate a new field of microbiology, developing new knowledge on fermentation, biogenesis, and germ theory. Full-Text PDF A call to accelerate an end to human rabies deathsEvery year, an estimated 59 000 vaccine-preventable deaths occur globally due to rabies.1 These deaths occur despite more than 100 years of existence of effective vaccines against rabies in humans and dogs, which serve as the main source of infection for humans.2,3 Full-Text PDF Innovation for infection prevention and control—revisiting Pasteur's visionLouis Pasteur has long been heralded as one of the fathers of microbiology and immunology. Less known is Pasteur's vision on infection prevention and control (IPC) that drove current infection control, public health, and much of modern medicine and surgery. In this Review, we revisited Pasteur's pioneering works to assess progress and challenges in the process and technological innovation of IPC. We focused on Pasteur's far-sighted conceptualisation of the hospital as a reservoir of microorganisms and amplifier of transmission, aseptic technique in surgery, public health education, interdisciplinary working, and the protection of health services and patients. Full-Text PDF