Neisser and the flow of seed

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a gram-negative intracellular diplococci, was identified in 1879 by the German physician, Albert Neisser, and is the causative agent of gonorrhea, one of the oldest recognized sexually transmitted diseases.

The term "gonorrhea" is derived from the Greek language and literally means "flow of seed"; this term was used to describe the white milky appearance of the purulent urethral discharge, which was mistaken for semen.


Neisser was also the co-discoverer of the causative agent of leprosy. In 1879 the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen gave to young Neisser (who had visited him in Norway to examine some 100 leprosy patients) some tissue samples of his patients. Neisser successfully stained the bacteria and announced his findings in 1880, claiming to have discovered the pathogenesis of leprosy. There was some conflict between Neisser and Hansen, because Hansen had failed to culture the organism and demonstrate unequivocally its link to leprosy, although he had observed the bacterium since 1872.