Weigl Reaction

Weigl reaction (historical; R. Weigl, 1883-1957, Polish biologist) is a method for diagnosing epidemic typhus developed by Rudolf Weigl in the 1930s.

The essence of the method is that the patient's blood is injected into the flea's stomach. If pale spirochetes, the causative agents of typhus, are present in the blood, the flea becomes ill and dies within 10-14 days. Thus, based on the death of fleas, the presence of typhus in the patient was diagnosed.

Weigl's method made it possible to quickly and accurately determine the presence of a dangerous infection in an epidemic. It was widely used in the 1930s and 1940s, especially during World War II, and helped save many lives. Rudolf Weigl made major contributions to the diagnosis and control of epidemic typhus.

The Weigl reaction is a method for isolating and purifying enzymes that was proposed in the 1920s by Polish biologist Rudolf Weigl. This method is widely used in modern biotechnology for the isolation and purification of various enzymes such as proteases, lipases, amylases and others.

The Weigle reaction method is based on the use of ion exchange chromatography to separate proteins contained in a cell or tissue extract. First, the extract is treated with a solution containing metal ions such as sodium, potassium or calcium. The protein bound to these ions is then separated from the solvent using an ion exchange resin, which has the ability to bind and retain specific ions. The protein is then isolated from the resin by treatment with a solution containing the opposite ions and purified of impurities by repeated chromatography on the ion exchange resin.

The Weigl reaction is one of the most common methods for isolating enzymes, since it allows one to obtain highly purified enzyme preparations with high activity and purity. In addition, this method can be used to isolate different types of enzymes, making it a versatile tool in biotechnology.