ZenToks Publication

Chapter 3

COMPREHENSIVE TECHNIQUES IN LABORATORY MEDICINE: AN IN-DEPTH GUIDE

Abstract/Preface

Laboratory methods, often referred to as laboratory techniques, are fundamental approaches in the scientific process, providing students and researchers the opportunity to engage directly with the phenomena relevant to their field of study. These methods, which can be either individual or group-based, are hands-on, minds-on approaches that allow for active participation in scientific discovery. It is difficult to exactly say when and where medial laboratory method was started. However, some early historical references have shown that there was examination of body fluid around the era of Hippocrates [1]. The most important event that contributes for the development of the profession was the discovery of microscope by a German scientist Antony Van Leoun Hook. In Ethiopia, the Italians were the first to establish health laboratory during The Second World War. Immediately after independence, British Scientists took over health laboratory activities in Addis Ababa. They organized the laboratory under the name of Imperial Medical Research Institute. After short period of time, they handed over the organization to the French Team on contractual basis. Then, the team developed the first well organized the laboratory under the name Institute Pasteur d’ Ethiopie. Between 1955 and 1964, they established facilities for the production of vaccines and some diagnostic activities. Developing of rabies vaccine was the main research area for the team.