Google Doodle celebrates Stamen Grigorov, the yogurt doctor who helped cure tuberculosis

Google on Tuesday wished Dr. Stamen Grigorov a happy 142nd birthday. Grigorov was a Bulgarian physician and microbiologist who discovered the bacterium essential to the fermentation of yogurt. The discovery contributed to the development of the first tuberculosis vaccine. To celebrate his accomplishments, Google has a new animated Google Doodle of the doctor. 

In 1904, after he got married, Grigorov was working as a research assistant at the Medical University of Geneva, Switzerland. To ease his homesickness, Grigorov’s wife sent him gifts, sometimes yogurt. At 27, Grigorov began investigating the health properties of yogurt, and after thousands of experiments, learned what causes yogurt’s fermentation. 

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While poring over a microscope, Grigorov spotted a rod-shaped microorganism, which would later be named Lactobacillus bulgaricus. In 1906, Grigorov released a paper detailing the first use of penicillin fungi against tuberculosis. His research went on to save thousands of lives. 

Grigorov died in 1945 on his 67th birthday.