Franz Ziehl (1857-1926) was a bacteriologist and professor of bacteriology at Lubeck who developed a carbol-fuchsin stain to study Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. In 1883, together with Rostock pathologist and professor Friedrich Neelsen (1854-1898), he perfected the Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast stain, which is still in use today. The original Ziehl stain was prepared from 1g of fuchsin and 5g of carbolic acid/phenol in a 10% v/v solution of alcohol in distilled water.


Created 2 February 2023