Schmiedebach H P
Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Greifswald, Federal Republic of Germany.
Arch Virol Suppl. 1999;15:9-23. doi: 10.1007/978-3-7091-6425-9_2.
When Loeffler took his first steps in the newly-emerging field of virology, the aim and the methods of his research activities were influenced by two different issues: 1) Loeffler was rooted in the scientific paradigm of bacteriology, but during the progress of his research on foot-and-mouth-disease (FMD) he recognized that the classical techniques derived from bacteriology were useless in identifying the agent of this disease. Thus he focussed on the properties of the pathogen and--though he could not find a method in order to visualize the 'virus'--he tried to develop a vaccine against the disease. 2) The Prussian Government was highly interested in effectively combatting FMD. In 1897 Loeffler was appointed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs to the newly-established commission for exploring that disease. The agricultural lobbies and the public pursued the activities of the commission with a mixture of hope and serious scepticism and demanded convincing results. These circumstances caused a considerable degree of political pressure on Loeffler, pressure which determined that his research activities would take a pragmatic approach, that he would avoid sophisticated reflections and trials on the nature of the 'virus', and that his research strategies would have as a goal the development of an effective immunization.
当勒夫勒在新兴的病毒学领域迈出第一步时，他的研究活动的目标和方法受到两个不同问题的影响：1）勒夫勒扎根于细菌学的科学范式，但在他对口蹄疫（FMD）的研究过程中，他认识到源自细菌学的经典技术在识别这种疾病的病原体方面毫无用处。因此，他专注于病原体的特性，并且——尽管他找不到一种方法来可视化“病毒”——他试图研发一种针对这种疾病的疫苗。2）普鲁士政府对有效对抗口蹄疫高度关注。1897年，勒夫勒被文化事务部任命为新成立的探索该疾病的委员会成员。农业游说团体和公众对该委员会的活动既满怀希望又严重怀疑，并要求取得令人信服的结果。这些情况给勒夫勒带来了相当大的政治压力，这种压力决定了他的研究活动将采取务实的方法，他将避免对“病毒”的性质进行复杂的思考和试验，并且他的研究策略将以开发有效的免疫方法为目标。
