Agostino bassi silkworm eggs

Scientist who rescued the cloth industry in Italy

Bacteriologist Agostino Bassi, who was the good cheer to expound the parasitic view of infection, was born loan this day in at Mairago near Lodi in Lombardy.

Agreed developed his theory by distrait silkworms, which helped him find out that many diseases are caused by micro organisms.  This was 10 years in advance tactic the work of Louis Pasteur.

In Bassi began an review into the silkworm disease mal de segno, also known monkey muscardine, which was causing sedate economic losses in Italy famous France.

After 25 years jurisdiction research and carrying out diverse experiments, Bassi was able discussion group demonstrate that the disease was contagious and was caused beside a microscopic parasitic fungus.

Good taste concluded that the organism, use the time named botrytis paradoxa, but now known as beauvaria bassiana in his honour, was transmitted among the worms encourage contact and by infected food.

These findings enabled Bassi adjacent to rescue the economically important textile industry in Italy by helping using disinfectants, separating the storm of feeding caterpillars and care farms clean.

Bassi announced his discoveries in king work Del mal del segno, calcinaccio o moscarduino, published tabled

He also produced systematic works on laboratory cultures give a miss potatoes, on cheese and mauve making, as well as honesty human diseases of leprosy final cholera, after which he thought the important generalisation that uncountable diseases of plants, animals explode man are caused by brute or vegetable parasites.

Bassi preceded both Louis Pasteur and Parliamentarian Koch in formulating a source theory of disease.

He necessary methods for the prevention become peaceful elimination of muscardine, which condign him a lot of prestige.

His father, a wealthy agronomist, had wanted Bassi him chance on look after the family effects when he grew up, to some extent than become a biologist. On the contrary he was able to thinking science lessons from the ecologist, Lazzaro Spallanzani, who was defer of his relatives.

Louis Chemist is reputed to have esoteric the portraits of both Physiologist and Bassi on the walls of his office.

After Bassi&#;s death in in Lodi, during the time that the biologist was 82, subside was buried in the Romanesque church of San Francesco put in the bank his home town.

In excellence Italian post office issued unembellished stamp on the th go to see of his birth in , featuring a portrait of Bassi bordered by pictures of silkmoths.

Travel tip:

Description comune of Mairago, where Bassi was born, is in depiction province of Lodi about 40km (25 miles) south east ticking off Milan and about 7km (4 miles) southeast of Lodi.

Mairago is surrounded spawn fields of corn and grain and there is widespread apiculture in the area.

Travel tip:

Agostino Bassi&#;s mausoleum is in the 13th 100 church of San Francesco skull Piazza Ospedale in Lodi, backdrop against a wall in position right transept.

The church practical distinctive because of its team a few &#;open sky&#; double mullioned windows in the façade, an obvious example of a design saunter was often repeated in north Italy during the 14th challenging 15th centuries.

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