Martinus W. Beijerinck (1851-1931) was a pioneering Dutch microbiologist who first coined the term "virus" to describe the unseen, self-replicating agents responsible for diseases. He introduced selective culture techniques, known as enrichment culturing, and was instrumental in identifying a variety of microorganisms. Beijerinck received his education at the Delft Technical School and the University of Leiden (graduating in 1899). He taught in agricultural schools, was employed at the Netherlands and Alcohol Manufactory between 1884 and 1895, and later taught at the Technical School in Delft from 1895 to 1921. His 1882 research on gall wasps and gall formation led to the theory that the development of higher plants and animals is governed by a sequence of growth enzymes that activate in a specific order. Beijerinck's significant contributions to microbiology included the development of the enrichment culture technique, alongside Sergey Winogradsky, which enables the isolation of specialized microorganisms. Through his study of tobacco disease, Beijerinck deduced that the filterable pathogen was a "contagium vivum fluidum," a term he created to describe his revolutionary concept of a living infectious agent in fluid form, challenging the contemporary belief that life and cellular structure were inseparable.
