The gut, the liver and everything they influence.
10 topics · 13 curated works
No prior grounding assumed.
Demonstration of a New Gastroscope, the Fiberscope
Basil I. Hirschowitz, Larry E. Curtiss, C. Wilbur Peters & Herbert M. Pollard · 1958
Describes the first flexible fiberoptic gastroscope, replacing rigid instruments and making direct visual examination of the entire stomach practical…
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Australia Antigen and the Biology of Hepatitis B
Baruch S. Blumberg · 1976
Traces the discovery of the Australia antigen to the identification of the hepatitis B virus and the vaccine it made possible.
+4 more at this level
Primary sources and full treatments.
On the Nature of the Acid and Saline Matters Usually Existing in the Stomachs of Animals
William Prout · 1824
Chemically identifies the acid in gastric juice as hydrochloric acid rather than a vague notion of animal secretion, giving digestion a definite…
+6 more at this level
12 of 13 works
Basil I. Hirschowitz, Larry E. Curtiss, C. Wilbur Peters & Herbert M. Pollard
Describes the first flexible fiberoptic gastroscope, replacing rigid instruments and making direct visual examination of the entire stomach practical for the first time.
Baruch S. Blumberg
Traces the discovery of the Australia antigen to the identification of the hepatitis B virus and the vaccine it made possible.
link checked 17 Sept 2026A. P. Manning, W. G. Thompson, K. W. Heaton & A. F. Morris
Proposes a set of positive symptom criteria distinguishing irritable bowel syndrome from organic disease, shifting its diagnosis away from one of exclusion and towards a recognisable clinical pattern.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Barry J. Marshall
Recounts the evidence, including self-infection, that overturned the stress-and-acid model of peptic ulcer disease in favour of a bacterial cause treatable with antibiotics.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Detlef Schuppan & Nezam H. Afdhal
Reviews cirrhosis as the common endpoint of chronic liver injury, arguing that reversing the underlying fibrotic process, not merely managing its complications, is now within reach of therapy.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Ron Sender, Shai Fuchs & Ron Milo
Recalculates the ratio of bacterial to human cells in the body and finds it close to 1:1 rather than the widely cited 10:1, correcting a figure that had shaped how the microbiome's scale was understood.
link checked 17 Sept 2026William Prout
Chemically identifies the acid in gastric juice as hydrochloric acid rather than a vague notion of animal secretion, giving digestion a definite chemical basis for the first time.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Burrill B. Crohn, Leon Ginzburg & Gordon D. Oppenheimer
Defines a distinct pattern of chronic, non-tuberculous inflammation of the terminal ileum as a specific clinical entity, now known as Crohn's disease.
William S. McCune, Paul E. Shorb & Hyard Moscovitz
Describes the first successful passage of an endoscope into the ampulla of Vater, opening the bile and pancreatic ducts to direct radiographic and later therapeutic access for the first time.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Michael N. Marsh
Proposes a graded histological classification of the small-intestinal mucosal damage caused by gluten, from infiltration through to total villous atrophy, that becomes the standard scale for diagnosing coeliac disease.
Edward L. Bradley III
Establishes a standard set of definitions for acute pancreatitis and its complications, from the Atlanta symposium, so severity could be compared consistently across studies and hospitals.
Peter J. Turnbaugh et al.
Argues that the trillions of microbial cells living in and on the human body function as a collective metagenome shaping health and disease, and proposes sequencing it systematically the way the human genome was sequenced.
link checked 17 Sept 2026