Sucharit Bhakdi is a retired Thai-German microbiologist. In 2020 and 2021 Bhakdi became a prominent source of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that the pandemic was "fake" and that COVID-19 vaccines were going to decimate the world's population. He was a professor at the University of Mainz, where he was head of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene. The university has disassociated itself from Bhakdi's views on the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 Bhakdi's publisher broke off relations following the appearance of an online video in which Bhakdi made antisemitic comments.
Early life and education Bhakdi (Thai: สุจริต ภักดี Thai pronunciation: [sut̚˨˩.t͡ɕa˨˩.rit̚˨˩ pʰak̚˦˥.diː˧]) was born Sucharit Punyaratabandhu, Thai: สุจริต บุณยรัตพันธุ์, 1 November 1946, in Washington, D.C.; his parents are Thai diplomats. In an interview, Bhakdi stated that his mother studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Bhakdi studied at the Universities of Bonn, Gießen, Mainz and Copenhagen, and at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg. He studied medicine at the University of Bonn from 1963 to 1970, during part of which (from 1966 to 1970) he was a scholarship holder of the German Academic Exchange Service. Bhakdi worked for a while as a private assistant to the internal medicine specialist Walter Siegenthaler. In February 1971 he received his doctorate in medicine. From 1972 to 1978, he studied at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg on scholarships from the Max Planck Society at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He worked at the University of Copenhagen for a year before moving to the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen, where he worked from 1977 to 1990. In July 1979 he habilitated.
Scientific and medical career Bhakdi was appointed C2 professor at Gießen in 1982. He spent a further year in Copenhagen and became C3 professor of medical microbiology (at Gießen again) in 1987 before being appointed to the University of Mainz in 1990. From 1991 he headed the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene as a C4 professor. Bhakdi retired on 1 April 2012. Since 2016 he has been a visiting scholar at the University of Kiel. Prior to his retirement, Bhakdi produced scientific work in the fields of bacteriology and atherosclerosis, and published multiple scientific articles in these areas.
Research career
The immune system From 1972, Bhakdi researched the functioning of the body's non-specific defenses at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg. He contributed to a better understanding of the mechanisms with which the large molecules of the complement system in the blood render exogenous substances harmless. In 1978 Bhakdi discovered a protein that attacks and damages cells by sinking into the cell membrane, resulting in the formation of a pore (see membrane attack complex). This was the enforcer molecule of the complement system, which is formed on the surface of foreign cells as a result of a chain reaction involving the immune system. This was followed by the discovery that bacteria, in turn, can also produce pore-forming proteins. Today it is known that the vast majority of pathogenic bacteria produce pore formers that damage host cells. In 1984 the Royal Society in London invited Bhakdi to present the concept of cell membrane damage by pore formers. From then on, Bhakdi concentrated on research on this topic.
Atherosclerosis Investigation of the complement system led Bhakdi to the area of atherosclerosis. In 1989 he discovered through animal experiments that the complement component 5 is activated in the vessel walls where low density lipoprotein (LDL) is deposited. According to current understanding, atherosclerosis is a polygenic disease caused by a complex interplay of several environmental and genetic factors, especially cholesterol. This is transported in the blood via LDL and absorbed by the cells that need it via cellular receptors. However, it can accumulate in the blood vessel walls during transport and oxidize there or even beforehand. This attracts monocytes, which take up the oxidized LDL and turn into "foam cells". These then trigger chronic inflammatory reactions that damage the vascular wall. In 1998, Bhakdi and his team of colleagues put forward the "Mainz hypothesis" that atherosclerosis is only caused monocausally by the lack of removal of LDL. According to Bhakdi's hypothesis, LDL is generally not oxidized, but cholesterol is also absorbed by monocytes and foam cells are formed. However, the high density lipoprotein (HDL) can remove cholesterol again. If, however, a certain amount of LDL accumulates locally on the vascular wall and cannot be removed, part of the immune system causes inflammatory reactions that lead to atherosclerosis. In this way, early-stage atherosclerosis could be reversed if the LDL blood level (and blood pressure) was lowered and the HDL level increased. Bhakdi's hypothesis, however, is not reflected in current opinion.
Memberships and functions Member of the Collaborative Research Centres of the German Research Foundation "Proteins as Tools in Biology" at the University of Giessen (1987–1990), Deputy Spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center "Immunopathogenesis" (1990–1999) Spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center "490 Infection and Persistence in Infections" in Mainz (2000–2011). Co-founder and board member of the Association of Physicians and Scientists for Health, Freedom and Democracy, which was founded in May 2020 and lost its non-profit status in October 2020. The purpose of the association is to take action against the German government's measures to contain the corona pandemic. In autumn 2020 he was one of the first signatories of the "appeal for free debating spaces" (Appell für freie Debattenräume, a German adaptation of the project "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate" by the American Thomas C. Williams, which was previously launched in the USA.). He was Editor in Chief of Medical Microbiology and Immunology from 1990 to 2012.
Prominence during COVID-19 pandemic
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