William Shakespeare in his play All is Well that Ends Well said “The web of life is of a mingled yarn of good and ill together”
In the early part of the 19th century the oppressive English landlords were not paying their Irish farm labourers working in their wheat fields their due share of their wages in the form of wheat grains. This led to starvation and malnutrition among the Irish population. They looked for an alternative crop to quell their hunger and starvation and also cheap to grow. Potato fitted very well into all these requirements. To increase potato yield the farmers imported Mexican potato seed tubers. Unfortunately, these tubers were carrying the deadly microbe a fungus named Phytophthora infestanse, the existence and association of this fungus were practically unknown even to the well-trained scientists of those days, then what to talk about the poor Irish farmers. Cultivation of potato went for several years. Each year while harvesting the potato crop the farmers were throwing away or leaving behind into the field soil rotten potato tubers which were carrying the deadly fungus, inadvertently helping to build up the population of the fungus in the soil. Then in 1845 the fungus ferociously attacked the potato crop. Irish farmers could not harvest a single potato tuber, leading to mass starvation and death. Nearly two million died of starvation another 2 million emigrated to the United States. This is the famous Irish potato famine which changed the course of world history.
President John F. Kennedys forefathers were Irish immigrants and victims of potato famine. This mass emigration reminds me of the exodus of Jews from Egypt to escape the oppressive rule of Pharaohs under the leadership of Moses parting the Red Sea with his divine power.
By the end of 19th century and the turn of 20th century causal microbe of the potato late blight was recognized and how to combat this malady with chemicals was also found out. The chemicals were a mixture of copper sulphate and lime.
Inadvertently the world was entering a turmoil. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28 1914 was the main catalyst for the start of the World War 1 where Germany was playing a major role. Today we know this war as World War I also known as trench war. Potato became a staple food for poor Germans also. Potato fields were protected from the onslaught of late blight with copper sulphate lime mixture. As the war progressed more and more copper were used for making gun shells and less and less for making copper sulphate. The near non availability of copper sulphate made the potato fields as the sitting ducks for the ravages of late blight leading to another potato famine. When the troops fighting in the frontline came to know that their families were dying of starvation became demoralized and Germany lost the war and the World War I came to an end and changed the course world history.
Hitler’s invasion of Poland in september1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany marking the beginning of World War II. As the war progressed Germany was mercilessly pounding London with air raids. Britain was running short of acetone a chemical very essential for the manufacture of ammunition. There was no way to import acetone. Winston Churchill who at that time prime minister of Great Britain heard about the manufacture of acetone from corn seeds and potatoes. The author of this breakthrough production was professor Chaim Weizmann professor of chemistry at the Manchester University England.
Professor Weizmann isolated a bacterium
Clostridium acetobutylicum which could ferment corn seeds and potatoes to acetone,butanol and ethyl alcohol. Churchill invited Professor Weizmann to his office and requested him to set up acetone production plants. Weizmann agreed but on one condition that whenever he requests Churchill for a favour he should accede to the favour. Churchill agreed to Weizmann’s condition, under the pressing situation of war with Germany.
Weizmann set up acetone production plants using corn seeds potatoes and the bacterium Clostridium aceto butylicum to brew acetone. With this plentiful acetone was available to manufacture enough ammunition. This turned the war to the disadvantage of Germany.
The Second World War came to an end on the 5th June 1945 with the defeat of Germany and its allies. When the cloud of war and its related commotion settled Weizmann decided to meet Churchill to remind him of his promise. Churchill invited him to his prime minister’s office in London. After a few initial pleasantries, Weizmann broached the idea of Churchill’s favour. Nonchalantly Churchill enquired what favour Weizmann wanted.
Weizmann unobtrusively demanded the creation of
a separate state of Israel for the Jewish people. Shocked by this demand Churchill reoriented himself and had several meetings with his cabinet colleagues and finally the carved out of the existing Palestine a British protectorate the state of Israel. The state of Israel was born on May14,1948. Here a microbe could help to create an independent nation and change the course of world history.
In my narrative I have shown how a fungus Phytophthora infestans and a bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum changed the course of world history
In our own time we witnessed how the Corona virus shook the very foundation of human existence and taught us how to charter new roads and eschew complacency.
Albert Einstein was invited to become the first president of Israel. But he refused. Chaim Weizmann became the first president of Israel.
Weizmann’s name is immortalized with the establishment of Weizmann Institute of Science for basic and applied sciences located at Rehovot Israel. This institute enjoys an international stature.
Before concluding this article, I am tempted to quote a sloka from Bhagavat Gita
“Paritranaya sadhunam, Vinasaya cha dushkritam
Dharma samstapanarthaya Sambhavmi yuge yuge”
“yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavathi Bharatha
Abhyuthana adharmasya that atmanam srijamyaham”
Meaning thereby
Paritranaya sadhunam = to protect the good
Vinasaya cha dushkritam = and to destroy the wicked actions
Dharma samstapanarthaya = to establish righteous ness
Sambhavami yuge yuge = I shall appear eons after eons
Yada yada hi = whenever
Dharmasya = righteousness
Glanir bhavathi Baratha = get tainted O! Bharatha
Abhyuthana = to destroy
Adharmasya = wicked action
Tad = then
Atmanam = I
Srijamyaham = shall appear
May be Phytophthora infestans and Clostridium acetobutylicum are the incarnation of providence to set the mankind on the right path.
Tennyson’s poem is not very far from this concept
“The old order changeth yielding place to new
And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world”
PROFESSOR K.A.BALASUBRAMANIAN
Reminded me of your plant pathology class where I first learned about the Great Famine and the causal organism Phytophthora infestans. Your class and teaching style had a profound impact on my scientific pursuit. Thank you for such an inspirational educator, Professor!