Fred Neufeld

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fred Neufeld

Fred Neufeld Julius (* 17th February 1869 in Neuteich , West Prussia; † 18th April 1945 in Berlin ) was a German physician and bacteriologist , the pneumococcal - serotypes discovered. This discovery enabled Frederick Griffith to demonstrate that one pneumococcal form can be transformed into another ( Griffith's experiment ). In 1944, Oswald Avery and his colleagues showed that the transformation is based on the transfer of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This was an important step towards the realization that DNA is generally the carrier of genetic information.

Early years

The early employees at the Robert Koch Institute (Neufeld 1895–1898 and 1915–1933)

Neufeld was the son of the doctor Hermann Neufeld and his wife Johanna, geb. Rahn. He was musically talented and a gifted pianist. After graduating from high school in Danzig, Neufeld studied in Tübingen, Königsberg, Berlin and Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate in 1893 with a thesis on the case history of congenital cranial tumors. After completing his military service in Danzig in 1893/94, Neufeld became Robert Koch's assistant in 1894 as a cholera assistant . He worked with Koch on studies on tuberculosis and in 1903 went with Koch to Rhodesia for studies on rinderpest . After a temporary move to the Imperial Health Department (titular professor in 1906), he returned to the Robert Koch Institute in 1912 as head of department and in 1915 succeeded Friedrich Loeffler as director.

Neufeld's discoveries

In 1900 Neufeld discovered that pneumococci were able to dissolve bile. Adding a small amount of bovine bile to a pneumococcal culture completely destroyed it after a short incubation period. This unique property has been widely used to diagnose pneumococcal infection. Then Neufeld discovered using immunological techniques that there are three types of pneumococci. In the presence of type I antiserum, type I pneumococci grew, and type II and III pneumococci also increased in the presence of their specific antisera. Neufeld called his discovery the swelling reaction . The swelling reaction enables easy identification of the pneumococcal serotypes. Based on Neufeld's discovery, Frederick Griffith showed that pneumococci can transfer genetic information from one form to another. Oswald Avery discovered that the substance that transmitted it was DNA . Neufeld's international reputation is based on his fundamental bacteriological work on streptococci and pneumococci. Modern molecular biology builds on this research. Together with Ludwig Haendel, he developed serological processes for the production of anti-pneumococcal sera, on which serum therapy for pneumonia was based in the pre-antibiotic era. In the last phase of life, the focus was on developing and testing new types of disinfectants. Neufeld was for many years co-editor of the magazine for hygiene and infectious diseases (today: Medical Microbiology and Immunology).

Next life

Neufeld was director of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin from 1915 to 1933. He was never married and lived with his mother until her death. Because of a serious illness - not because of racial or political persecution - he retired in 1933 at his own request. Up to the age of 70, Neufeld, who did not belong to any party organization, was able to continue his daily studies in the RKI with the benevolent support of the Reich Research Council (publications until 1943). Neufeld died at the end of the war on April 18, 1945 of "exhaustion".

Works

  • Disease origin and -fighting . 1914.
  • Pneumococci . In: W. Kolle, R. Kraus, P. Uhlenhuth (eds.): Handbook of pathogenic microorganisms . tape IV , 1928.

Honors

literature

  • Marc C. Winter: Fred Neufeld. In: Institutionalized hygiene in Germany under the conditions of the war 1914–1918: people, problems, ideologies. (= Modern history of medicine and science: sources and studies. 35). Centaurus-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-86226-243-4 , pp. 38–39.
  • Celia Mozew: Professor Doctor Fred Julius Neufeld (1869–1945). Life and work. Dissertation . med. dent., Heidelberg 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steven Lehrer: Explorers of the Body . 2nd Edition. iUniverse, United States 2006, ISBN 0-595-40731-5 ( google.com ).
  2. ↑ Ragnhild Münch, Heide Tröllmich: The Robert Koch Institute: a lot of. (PDF) Robert Koch Institute, accessed on September 14, 2016 .
  3. ↑ F. Neufeld: About a specific bacteriolytic effect of the bile. In: Journal of Hygiene Infectious Diseases. 34, 1900, pp. 454-464.
  4. ^ F. Neufeld: About the agglutination of the pneumococci and about the theories of agglutination. In: Journal of Hygiene Infectious Diseases. 40, 1902, pp. 54-72.
  5. ^ F. Neufeld, L. Handel: Further investigations on Pneumococcal healing sera. III communication. About the occurrence and importance of atypical varieties of the pneumococcus. In: Work from the Imperial Health Office. 34, 1910, pp. 293-304.
  6. ^ Robert Austrian: A Brief History of Pneumococcal Vaccines. Review Article. In: Drugs & Aging. 15, Supplement 1, 1999, pp. 1-10.
  7. ↑ Elaine Tuomanen: The pneumococcus . ASM Press, United States 2004, ISBN 1-55581-297-X .
  8. ↑ a b Peter Voswinkel: Neufeld, Fred . In: New German Biography . No. 19 , 1999, p. 115 (online version) ( deutsche-biographie.de [accessed on September 13, 2016]).
  9. ^ Member entry by Fred Neufeld at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on September 13, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Neufeld, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neufeld, Fred Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor and bacteriologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuteich , West Prussia
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1945
Place of death Berlin