Question

Who did propose the “Rivet popper hypothesis”?

Answer 1

Hint: Founder of chemotherapy as he was first to use chemicals to treat disease. He discovered the first magic bullet ‘arsphenamine’. He standardized the manufacture of anti- diphtheria serum. He was first to give the concept of developing resistance from the disease.

Complete answer:
‘Rivet popper hypothesis’ was proposed by Paul Ehrlich. According to this hypothesis in an airplane, all parts are joined together using thousands of rivets similarly in the ecosystem all are joined together by thousands of species. If every passenger traveling in an airplane starts popping a rivet to take home it may not affect flight safety initially but soon as more rivet is removed, the plane becomes dangerously weak over a while. Similarly, in the ecosystem, each one starts causing a species to become extinct which will affect the proper function of the ecosystem.

Additional Information:
-This hypothesis highlights the condition of an ecosystem wherein a significant loss of a certain species affects the function and diversity of an ecological community.
-The rate of loss in species affects the entire function of the ecological system, for example the use of pesticides to remove species would haphazardly remove many species that are more likely to have unfavorable effects in the agroecosystem.

So, the correct answer is, ‘Paul Ehrlich.’

Note: -According to Paul Ehrlich’s magic bullets if a compound could be made that selectively targeted a disease-causing organism, then a toxin for that organism could be delivered along with the agent of selectivity.
-Paul Ehrlich and Alfred Bertheim were first to the derived structure of atoxyl for optic nerve atrophy.