Dr Günther Müller, co-discoverer of the Marburg virus, turns 100
BNITM honours a pioneer of electron microscopy
The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) congratulates its former colleague Dr Günther Müller on his 100th birthday. He is regarded as one of the co-discoverers of the Marburg virus and, through his work on electron microscopes, has helped to shape research on haemorrhagic fever viruses such as Marburg and Ebola, as well as on smallpox viruses.
As a member of the Virology Department, Müller was primarily responsible for electron microscopy. Initially, the team had focused on searching for the pathogen in the organs of infected guinea pigs – without success. The Bernhard Nocht Institute was then provided with blood samples from infected patients and animals. Müller examined these under the electron microscope.
In November 1967, he saw a screen full of thread-like particles with a distinct fine structure. They undoubtedly represented an unknown type of virus. Müller was thus not only the first to visualise the Marburg virus, but also helped to identify an entire family of viruses: the filoviruses, which later came to include the closely related Ebola virus.
“With his curiosity and innovative spirit, Dr Günther Müller has achieved great things for the BNITM,” says Prof. Dr Jürgen May, Chairman of the BNITM. “His contribution to the discovery of the Marburg virus continues to have an impact on research and diagnostics to this day.”
Müller remained connected to the institute well into his old age. In 2017, 50 years after the discovery of the Marburg virus, he gave a lecture on that success at a scientific symposium in the historic lecture hall. Last October, he was a guest at the Senate reception marking the institute’s 125th anniversary and also spoke to the press beforehand about his time at the institute. Müller’s work exemplifies the close link between technical development, clinical observation and basic research that continues to characterise tropical virology at the BNITM to this day.
Contact person
Prof. Dr Jürgen May (Chair)
Board of Directors
Phone : +49 40 285380-260
Email : chair@bnitm.de
BNITM Press
Phone : +49 40 285380-264/269
Email : presse@bnitm.de
