Physiologist, born in Neuss, W Germany. He studied medicine at Berlin University, and became professor at Louvain (1838) and Liège (1848). He discovered the enzyme pepsin, investigated muscle contraction, demonstrated the role of micro-organisms in putrefaction, and extended the cell theory (previously applied to plants) to animal tissues, thus founding modern histology.
Among his many contributions to biology there was the development of cell theory, the discovery of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, the discovery and study of pepsin, the discovery of the organic nature of yeast and the invention of the term metabolism.
Works
Histology
Theodor Schwann was born on December 7,1810 , in Neuss, Prussia, Germany.
Vitalism and germ theory
Schwann was thus the first of Müller's pupils who broke with the traditional vitalism and worked towards a physico-chemical explanation of life. Müller also directed Schwann's attention to the process of digestion, which Schwann showed in 1836 to depend essentially on the presence of a ferment he called pepsin. In fact the whole germ theory of Pasteur, as well as its antiseptic applications by Lister, can be traced to Schwann's influence.
Cell theory
Once, when Schwann was dining with Schleiden (who in 1837 had viewed and stated that new plant cells formed from the nuclei of old plant cells) in 155 ac, the conversation turned on the nuclei of plants and animal cells. Schwann remembered having seen similar structures in the cells of the notochord (as had been shown by Müller) and instantly realized the importance of connecting the two phenomena. In the course of his verification of cell theory, in which Schwann traversed the whole field of histology, he proved the cellular origin and development of the most highly differentiated tissues including nails, feathers, and tooth enamel.
His generalization became the foundation of modern histology, and in the hands of Rudolf Virchow (whose cellular pathology was an inevitable deduction from Schwann) afforded the means of placing modern pathology on a truly scientific basis.
Sources
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
User Comments Add a comment…