Blood, Plague, and Smallpox: A new book about Elstree and the contribution to microbiology

The journey is as important as the destination, not only from emanating from a love of history or (plus, in this case, the wonders of scientific innovation) but also with the knowledge and values derived from the experiences, lessons, and personal growth we can gain from reading about the tales of those pursuing their goals.

This makes the history of science something of importance, allowing us to understand how scientific knowledge has evolved over time, providing context for current scientific understanding, revealing the social and cultural influences on scientific discoveries, and providing us with a lens to critically analyze the development of scientific ideas and methods.

This is something I’ve attempted to engage with, culminating in my new book Blood, Plague and Smallpox: The story of the Elstree Laboratory.

For those interested in the history of microbiology, I’ve picked out some of the developments and founding figures who worked at the site in the small, leafy village just north of London. The book also contains considerable detail on developing plasma products, but today’s focus is on my profession.

In this week’s article, I’ve highlighted ten important contributions to microbiology that emerged from the Elstree Laboratory. For those interested in learning more, I’ve provided the links where you can acquire a copy of my new book Blood, Plague and Smallpox.

Lister

The founder of the Elstree laboratories was the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, which was named in honor of its president – Joseph Lister. The Institute was formed in order to emulate the successful organization of Louis Pasteur in Paris.

Lister was a Scottish surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of antiseptic surgery, and preventive healthcare. The early days of the Institute focused on developing antisera to treat conditions like diphtheria.

MacConkey

Alfred Theodore MacConkey (1861 – 1931) began work at Elstree in 1906, where he took charge of the production of antiserum for both diphtheria and tetanus. A fearsome man, MacConkey’s major contribution was in finalising the development of his bacteriological medium for the detection of the pathogen Escherichia coli. MacConkey Agar is still used in many laboratories around the world today.

How disinfectants work

Harriet Chick was foremost a nutritionist and pioneer in understanding vitamins; she also played an important role in our understanding of how disinfectants work. Chick formulated an equation that became Chick's Law: a mathematical expression that set out the relationship between the killing efficacy rate of a disinfectant against a population of microorganisms and the ‘contact time’ (between the disinfectant and the microbial cell). Chick showed this followed first order kinetics.

Chick further demonstrated the extent that disinfectant activity was dependent upon the solution temperature and she was the first person to propose adding an interfering substance, in the form of 3% dried human faeces, to the disinfectant efficacy test in order to represent more realistic conditions. She was also the first scientist to show that the killing of bacteria by disinfectants followed first-order kinetics.

National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC)

The National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) was established in 1920 by the Lister Institute in Chelsea. It was later transferred to Elstree to provide a reliable source of bacterial strains for scientific research. It is one of the world's oldest collections of microorganisms.

Sir Frederick William Andrewes, a pathologist who studied dysentery during World War I, deposited the first 200 cultures. These strains included Theodore Escherich's original strain of Escherichia coli (which became NCTC 86) and a Vibrio cholera strain isolated in 1916 (later coded as NCTC 30). This remains the oldest live strain of V. cholera in the world.

Plague

The Elstree laboratories played a part in understanding the vectors for the transmission of plague (and less successfully in seeking a vaccine). Huge efforts were put in to supporting India during its plague epidemic. This was not without its local consequences; one eminent Australian scientist contracted plague at Elstree and died within the on-site accommodation block.

Brucellosis

Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that spreads from animals to people. Most commonly, people are infected by consuming unpasteurized dairy products. The disease is named after Major General Sir David Bruce, the microbiologist who led the research into identifying the bacterium the disease transmission. Bruce was in charge of Elstree for a period of time, directing research into scarlet fever and the quest for a workable serum.

Parasitology and sleeping sickness

Muriel Robertson, who worked at Elstree for many years, was a pioneering Glaswegian protozoologist who revealed the life cycle and transmission of the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma brucei (which causes sleeping sickness).

Following her appointment at Elstree, Robertson began her studies into the parasite in Uganda at the height of a major epidemic around the shores of Lake Victoria. Back at Elstree, Robertson made beneficial use of the fishpond at Elstree, located outside Queensbury Lodge where she infected the resident goldfish with trypanosome parasites and compared the behaviour of the infected fish to other goldfish living in a nearby artificial pond. Robertson’s studies also involved the use of leeches collected from the nearby Aldenham reservoir, which she infected with the parasites.

Robertson was able to demonstrate that the parasite could be transmitted to goldfish via the proboscis sheath of the leech. Her research was important for global efforts against parasitic disease and efforts to minimize its impact in sub-Saharan Africa.

Smallpox

Smallpox was a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus and spread through coughing and sneezing; it reached almost every human civilization on the planet and humanity lived with the disease for over 3,000 years.

One of the great efforts was the international collaboration (including the USA and Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War) that led to the elimination of the virus. Central to this was the vaccine produced at Elstree using the Lister strain. The success was down to innovations in freeze-drying, which gave the vaccine unprecedented stability enabling it to be distributed to any community, no matter how remote.

Trachoma and chlamydia

The scientist behind the development of the smallpox vaccine was Leslie Collier, who made a further important contribution. Collier made an important link between trachoma, which was affecting 84 million people worldwide, of whom about 8 million are visually impaired, and the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia (caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis). This was despite the challenges of C. trachomatis being ‘non-culturable’ on microbiological agar (the organism can replicate only within a host cell).

Immunoglobulins

Among the plasma products pioneered at Elstree, building on the work of many eminent scientists including Ralph Kekwick, were immunoglobulins in the form of IgG. This is a type of antibody that helps prevent infections by fighting bacteria and viruses. Pioneers at Elstree showed how extracting IgG from human plasma created a therapeutic product that could be infused into others who were immunosuppressed – giving the immune system of another person a life-saving boost.

Where to obtain the book

Blood, Plague and Smallpox is available from all Amazon stores and selected bookshops. The Amazon editions (with links to Amazon.com) are, in order of decreasing retail price:

? Hardback edition (with color photographs)

? Paperback edition (with monochrome photographs)

? e-book

A summary of the book’s wider themes:

Elstree is a site of scientific excellence. Starting as laboratories as part of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, research was varied, including pathogen safety and nutrition before the site’s first great success was through playing a pivotal role in the global eradication of smallpox.

From Lister sprung the Blood Products Laboratory, a global innovator in plasma products (including immunoglobulins and the world’s first factor VIII for the treatment of hemophilia).

These three central elements can be captured simply – Blood, Plague, and Smallpox.

This book documents the history of the site – criminals sought out by Scotland Yard; dedicated workers contracting the very pathogens they are experimenting on; periodic political and biological threats to the site remaining open (from Margaret Thatcher to mad cow disease), this is a history of twists, turns, survival and scientific excellence.

Tim Sandle’s Amazon page can be found here.