Pierre Jacques Antoine Béchamp (; 16 October 1816 – 15 April 1908) was a French scientist now best known for breakthroughs in applied

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

and for a bitter rivalry with

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

. Béchamp developed the Béchamp reduction, an inexpensive method to produce aniline dye, permitting William Henry Perkin to launch the synthetic-dye industry. Béchamp also synthesized the first organic arsenical drug, arsanilic acid, from which

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure fo ...

later synthesized

salvarsan Arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan or compound 606, is an antibiotic drug that was introduced at the beginning of the 1910s as the first effective treatment for the deadly infectious diseases syphilis, relapsing fever, and African trypanosomias ...

, the first chemotherapeutic drug. Béchamp's rivalry with Pasteur was initially for priority in attributing

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

to microorganisms, later for attributing the silkworm disease pebrine to microorganisms, and eventually over the validity of

germ theory The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These small organisms, which are too small to be seen without magnification, ...

. Béchamp claimed to have discovered that the "molecular granulations" in biological fluids were actually the elementary units of life. He named them ''microzymas''—that is, "tiny enzymes"—and credited them with producing both enzymes and cells while "evolving" amid favorable conditions into multicellular organisms. Béchamp also denied that bacteria could invade a healthy animal and cause disease, claiming instead that unfavorable host and environmental conditions destabilize the host's native microzymas and decompose host tissue by producing pathogenic bacteria. While cell theory and germ theory gained widespread acceptance, granular theories have been rejected by current

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...

. Béchamp's version, ''microzymian theory'', has been retained by small groups, especially in

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

. His work in understanding how the "terrain" may affect disease may have implications in emerging

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

research.

Early life, family and education

Béchamp was born in Bassing, France in 1816, the son of a miller. He lived in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania from the ages of 7 to 18 with an uncle who worked in the French ambassador's office. He was educated at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, receiving a doctor of science degree in 1853 and doctor of medicine in 1856, and ran a pharmacy in the city. In 1854 was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, a post previously held by Louis Pasteur.

Career

In 1856, after receiving his medical degree, Béchamp took a position at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

, where he remained until 1876 when he was appointed Dean of the Catholic Faculty of Medicine at Université Lille Nord de France. Béchamp's time in Lille was stormy, as his dispute with Pasteur led to efforts to have his work placed on the ''

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

'' (the index of books prohibited by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

). Béchamp retired under this cloud in 1886, briefly ran a pharmacy with his son, and ultimately moved to Paris, where he was given a small laboratory at the Sorbonne. One of his students was Victor Galippe, a physician who studied micro-organisms in plants and their role in human health. He died at the age of 91, his work having faded into scientific obscurity and Pasteur's version of germ theory dominant. A brief obituary in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

'' noted that Béchamp's name was "associated with bygone controversies as to priority which it would be unprofitable to recall." In the modern day, Béchamp's work continues to be promoted by a small group of

proponents (also known as germ theory denialists), including advocates of alternative theories of cancer, who dismiss Pasteur's germ theory and argue that Béchamp's ideas were unjustly ignored. They accuse Pasteur, as did The French Academy of Sciences, of plagiarising and then suppressing Béchamp's work, citing work such as Ethel Douglas Hume's ''Béchamp or Pasteur: A Lost Chapter in the History of Biology'' from the 1920s.

Literature

References

External links

About Antoine Bechamp and Pleomorphism (A Distant Mirror, publisher of Bechamp books)

Bechamp or Pasteur? (Book by E. Hume)

The Blood and its Third Element (Book by Antoine Bechamp)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechamp 1816 births 1908 deaths 19th-century French biologists French microbiologists 19th-century French chemists Germ theory denialists Medical controversies University of Strasbourg alumni Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg Academic staff of the University of Lille Nord de France Academic staff of the University of Montpellier People from Moselle (department)

Early life, family and education

Career

Literature

See also

References

External links