need help w/ bio?

Question

I don't get why you can't use Koch's postulates if the suspected pathogen causes a disease only in humans.... is it that it needs to be tested in multiple organisms.?? idk confused help please

*edit* I'm not asking why it's not morally correct... but rather why it isn't possible

cmon ppl help please....

Answer 1

The answer to your question DOES lie with morality. You "can't" use Koch's postulates if the pathogen only causes disease in humans because the only way to do so would be to intentionally infect humans with the disease. While technically you could use Koch's postulates, you can't because it's pretty much against the law in this case.

Answer 2

Koch's Postulates are:

1. The organism must be found in all animals that suffer from the disease, but not in healthy animals.
2. The organism must be isolated from a diseased animal and then grown in pure culture.
3. The cultured organism should cause disease when re-introduced into a healthy animal.
4. The organism must be re-isolated from the experimentally infected animal.

It is #3 that makes it morally wrong to test a human pathogen in humans - it's not that it cannot be done - it's that it should not be done.

Answer 3

There are organisms that are specific to humans. We have done some research in prisons , but it is frowned on to experiment on humans with pathogenic bacteria.