Evolution of the probiotic concept from conception to validation and acceptance in medical science

Two pioneering achievements by Ilya Ilyich Metchnikoff were recorded in 1908. Most notable was his Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the innate cellular immune response to an infectious challenge. Of lesser note was his recommendation, "...to absorb large quantities of microbes, as a general belief is that microbes are harmful. This belief is erroneous. There are many useful microbes, amongst which the lactic bacilli have an honorable place." While his discovery of the inflammatory response was rapidly incorporated into our understanding of cellular immunity, his recommendation "to absorb large quantities of microbes," on the other hand, languished for decades in limbos of indifference, skepticism, and disbelief. The present chapter is a synopsis of salient discoveries made during the past 100 years, which gradually displaced these skepticisms, validated his concept of "useful microbes," and propelled his "lactic bacilli" into the mainstream of modern medical science, practice, and therapy.