Biological Problem 1 What is the cause of malaria?
Observation
In the last part of the nineteenth century many different causes of malaria were being suggested. By that time there were for major observations about malaria.
- Malaria and marshy areas have some relationship.
- Quinine is an effective drug for treating malaria.
- Drinking the water of marshes does not cause malaria.
- Plasmodium is seen in the blood of malaria patients.
Hypothesis
We know that a scientist uses whatever information and observation he has and makes one or more hypothesis.The hypothesis is made in this case was:
"plasmodium is the cause of malaria"
Deductions
Scientist does not know whether his hypothsis is true or not,but he accepts it may be true and makes deductions.One of the deductions from the above hypothesis was:
"If plasmodium is the cause of malaria,then all person ill with malaria should have plasmodium in their blood."
Experimentation
The next step was to test the deduction through experiments which were designed as;
"Blood of 100 malaria patients was axamined under microscope.For the purpose of having a control group,the blood of 100 persons was also examined under microscope."
Results
The result of the experimants showed that almost all malarial patients had plasmodium in their blood while 07 of 100 healthy persons also had plasmodium in their blood (noe we know that plasmodium in the blood of healthy people was in incubation period i.e,the period between the entry of parasite in host and appearance of aymptoms).
Conclusion
The result were quite convincing and proved that the hypothesis"plasmodium is the cause of malaria"was true.
0 Comments