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Theobald Smith

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Theobald Smith
Born(1859-07-31)July 31, 1859
Albany, New York
DiedDecember 10, 1934(1934-12-10)(aged 75)
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCornell University,Albany Medical College
Known forTexas cattle fever,Salmonella
AwardsManson Medal(1932)
Copley Medal(1933)
Scientific career
FieldsEpidemiology
InstitutionsUS Department of Agriculture,Harvard University,Rockefeller University

Theobald SmithFRS(For)[1]HFRSE(July 31, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a pioneeringepidemiologist,bacteriologist,pathologistand professor. Smith is widely considered to be America's first internationally-significant medical research scientist.[2][3]

Smith's research work included the study ofbabesiosis(originally known asTexas cattle fever) and the more-general epidemiology of cattle diseases caused bytick borne diseases.He also described the bacteriumSalmonella enterica(formerly calledSalmonella choleraesuis), a species ofSalmonella,named for theBureau of Animal IndustrychiefDaniel E. Salmon.Additional work in studying the phenomena ofanaphylaxisled to it being referred to as theTheobald Smith phenomenon.[1]

Smith taught at Columbian University (nowGeorge Washington University) and established the school's department of bacteriology, the first at a medical school in the United States.[1]He later worked atHarvard Universityand theRockefeller Institute.

Education[edit]

Smith was born inAlbany, New York,the son of Philip Smith and his wife, Theresa Kexel.[4]

He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree fromCornell Universityin 1881, followed by an MD fromAlbany Medical Collegein 1883.[2]

After his graduation from medical school, Smith held a variety of temporary positions which might broadly be considered under the modern heading of "medical laboratory technician". After some prodding by his former professors, Smith secured a new research lab assistant position with the Veterinary Division of theUS Department of Agriculture(USDA) inWashington, D.C.,beginning his position there in December 1883.[5]

Research[edit]

Smith became the Inspector of the newly createdBureau of Animal Industry(BAI) in 1884. Established by Congress to combat a wide range of animal diseases—from infectious disease ofswinetobovine pneumonia,Texas cattle fevertoglanders—Smith worked underDaniel E. Salmon,a veterinarian and Chief of the BAI.[6]Smith also discovered the bacterialtype specieswhich would eventually form thegenusSalmonella.After two years of work studying the efficacy of bacterial vaccination in pigs, Smith erroneously believed he had found the causative agent of hog cholera.[7]

Smith turned his attention to Texas fever, a debilitating cattle disease; this work is detailed in a chapter inMicrobe Hunters,byPaul de Kruif.In 1889, he along with the veterinarianF.L. KilbournediscoveredBabesia bigemina,thetick-borneprotozoanparasiteresponsible for Texas fever. This marked the first time that anarthropodhad been definitively linked with the transmission of an infectious disease and presaged the eventual discovery of insects such asticksandmosquitoesas importantvectorsin a number of diseases.

Smith also taught at Columbian University in Washington, D.C. (nowGeorge Washington University) from 1886 to 1895, establishing the school's Department ofBacteriology.In 1887, Smith began research onwater sanitationin his spare time, investigating the level offecal coliformcontamination in the nearbyPotomac River.Over the next five years, Smith expanded his studies to include theHudson Riverand its tributaries.[8]

While Smith's work at the BAI had been highly productive, he found the rigid federal government bureaucracy stiffing and complained about the lack of leadership from his supervisor. In 1895 Smith moved toCambridge,Massachusettsto accept a dual appointment serving as professor of comparativepathologyatHarvard Universityas well as directing the pathology lab at the Massachusetts State Board of Health.[5]

Smith joined theRockefeller Institute for Medical Researchas Director of the Department of Animal Pathology in 1915 and remained there until his retirement in 1929.

He was a trustee of theCarnegie Institutionfrom 1914 until his death in 1934.[9]

Law of declining virulence[edit]

Smith's best-known contribution was the notion, long since disproved, was that there would be a “delicate equilibrium” betweenhostsandpathogenssuch that they would develop a "mutually benign relationship" over time.[10]This was at most aneducated guessand never became ascientific theory,but it became accepted asconventional wisdomand was even called thelaw of declining virulence.It has been disproved and replaced by thetrade-offmodel, which explains that eachhost–pathogen relationshipmust be considered separately, that there is no general pattern that predicts how all of these relationships will develop, and that there is definitely no inevitability of decreasedvirulence.[10][11]

Awards and Honors[edit]

Smith was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1896,[12]the United StatesNational Academy of Sciencesin 1908,[13]and theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1915.[14]In 1933, Smith was awarded theRoyal Society's prestigiousCopley Medal"For his original research and observation on diseases of animals and man.".

Publications[edit]

  • Parasitism and Disease(1934)

Other discoveries[edit]

  • Observed differences between human and bovine tuberculosis (1895).
  • Discussed the possibility of mosquitos as a malaria transmission vector (1899).
  • Variation and bacterial pathogenesis (1900).
  • Discoveredanaphylaxis(1903), which is also sometimes referred to as "Theobald Smith's phenomenon".[15]
  • Brucellosisinfections
  • Used toxin/antitoxin as a vaccine for diphtheria (1909).
  • In the process of investigating an epidemic of infectious abortions of cattle in 1919, Smith described the bacteria responsible for fetal membrane disease in cows now known asCampylobacter fetus.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcNuttall, G. H. F.(1935)."Theobald Smith. 1859-1934".Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society.1(4): 514–521.Bibcode:1935SciMo..40..196W.doi:10.1098/rsbm.1935.0014.JSTOR768981.Retrieved17 March2022.
  2. ^abDolman, C.E.; Wolfe, R.J. (2003).Suppressing the Diseases of Animals and Man: Theobald Smith, Microbiologist.Boston Medical Library.ISBN0-674-01220-8.
  3. ^Middleton, James (July 1914)."A Great American Scientist: Dr. Theobald Smith, Head of The New Department Of Animal Diseases At The Rockefeller Institute".The World's Work: A History of Our Time.XLIV(2). Doubleday, Page & Co.: 299–302.Retrieved17 March2022.
  4. ^Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002(PDF).The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006.ISBN0-902-198-84-X.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-03-04.Retrieved2018-07-28.
  5. ^abKruif, Paul De (2002) [1926].Microbe Hunters.Harvest Books.ISBN0-15-602777-1.
  6. ^J.H., Brown (1 July 1935)."Theobald Smith 1859-1934".J Bacteriol.30(1): 1–3.Bibcode:1935SciMo..40..196W.doi:10.1128/JB.30.1.1-3.1935.PMC543631.PMID16559815.
  7. ^"Theobald Smith, 1859-1934: A Fiftieth Anniversary Tribute"(PDF).ASM News.50:577–80. 1984. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2004-09-07.
  8. ^T., Smith (1893). "A new method for determining quantitatively the pollution of water by fecal bacteria".13th Annual Report of the State Board of Health of New York for 1892:712–22.
  9. ^Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year Book No. 47, July 1, 1947 – June 30, 1948(PDF).Washington, DC. 1948. p. vi.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^abFall, Ed; Yates, Christian (1 February 2021)."Will coronavirus really evolve to become less deadly?".The Conversation.Retrieved29 November2021.The trade-off model is now widely accepted. It emphasises that each host-pathogen combination must be considered individually. There is no general evolutionary law for predicting how these relationships will pan out, and certainly no justification for evoking the inevitability of decreased virulence.
    There is little or no direct evidence that virulence decreases over time. While newly emerged pathogens, such as HIV and Mers, are often highly virulent, the converse is not true. There are plenty of ancient diseases, such as tuberculosis and gonorrhoea, that are probably just as virulent today as they ever were.
  11. ^Orent, Wendy(16 November 2020)."Will the Coronavirus Evolve to Be Less Deadly? - History and science suggesting many possible pathways for pandemics, but questions remain about how this one will end".Smithsonian Magazine.Retrieved29 November2020.
  12. ^"Theobald Smith".American Academy of Arts & Sciences.2023-02-10.Retrieved2023-11-03.
  13. ^"Theobald Smith".www.nasonline.org.Retrieved2023-11-03.
  14. ^"APS Member History".search.amphilsoc.org.Retrieved2023-11-03.
  15. ^"Whonamedit - dictionary of medical eponyms".whonamedit.com.Retrieved2018-04-18.
  16. ^Smith, T.; Taylor, M.S. (1919)."Some morphological and biological characters of theSpirilla(Vibrio fetus,n. sp.) associated with the disease of the fetal membranes in cattle ".J Exp Med.30(4): 299–311.doi:10.1084/jem.30.4.299.PMC2126685.PMID19868360.

External links[edit]

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