(CNN) -- The discovery of HIV, a breakthrough in the treatment of bipolar disorder, the advent of the contraceptive pill ... CNN looks at some of the scientific discoveries that changed the world. HIV was isolated by scientists in 1983 and named in 1986 by an international committee THE DISCOVERY OF HIV/ AIDS Originally called slimmer's disease, as sufferers lost a lot of weight, the first recorded case of HIV occurred in the Congo in 1977. After several infections, a Danish doctor died of pneumonia, which normally doesn't break through the body's immune system. The components of her disease had not yet been placed together, indicating that this was a new form of illness.
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HIV was isolated in 1983 and can be controlled with protease inhibitors
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Psychiatrist John Cade pioneered lithium as a treatment for bipolar disorder
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Dutchman Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria as a build-up on teeth
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Professor Russell Marker's experiments with plant steroids led to the Pill
It was by observing the build-up of plaque on teeth that the @placeholder scientist discovered what we now know to be bacteria.