Microbiology

 

Written by Lovepreet Singh Grewal

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Introduction: 

• Microbiology is the branch of science that deals with the study of microorganisms which are invisible to the naked eye.

• Microbiologists are the persons specialized in the field of Microbiology.

• It is con­cerned with the form, structure, metabolism, growth, reproduction and identifica­tion of microorganisms. 

• It also includes the study of their distribution in nature, their relationship to each other and to other living organisms.

Branches:

• Study of microbiology is further divided into many branches as following,

1. Bacteriology: Study of Bacterias.

2. Mycology: Study of Fungi.

3. Virology: Study of Viruses.

4.  Phycology: Study of Algae.

5. Protozoology : Study of Protozoa.

6. Microbial ecology: Study of interrelationships between microbes and environment.

7. Microbial morphology: Study of detailed structure of microorganisms.

8. Microbial taxonomy: Concerned with classification, naming and identification of microorganisms.

9. Microbial Physiology: Study of metabolism of microbes at cellular and molecular levels.

10. Microbial genetics and Molecular Biology: Study of genetic material, structure and function and biochemical reactions of microbial cells involved in metabolism and growth.

Scope of Microbiology:

• Microorganisms are everywhere, almost everywhere on earth even in volcanoes to the frozen sea.

• We swallow millions of microbes every day with no ill effects. In fact, we are dependent on microbes to help us digest our food.

• Microbes also keep the biosphere running by carrying out essential functions such as decomposition of dead animals and plants. They make possible the cycles of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur that take place in terrestrial and aquatic systems.

• Microbes play both helpful as well as harmful roles on human beings. E.g. Bacterias are responsible for production of dairy products, antibiotics at the same time they cause infections like typhoid, Syphilis etc.

• There is vast scope in the field of microbiology due to the advancement in the field of science and technology.

• The scope in this field is immense due to the involvement of microbiology in many fields like medicine, pharmacy, diary, industry, clinical research, water industry, agriculture, chemical technology and nanotechnology.

• Genetics: Mainly involves engineered microbes to make hormones, vaccines, antibiotics and many other useful products for human beings.

• Agriculture: The influence of microbes on agriculture; the prevention of the diseases that mainly damage the useful crops.

• Food science: It involves the prevention of spoilage of food and food borne diseases and the uses of microbes to produce cheese, yoghurt, pickles and beer.

• Immunology: The study of the immune system which protects the body from pathogens.

• Medicine: deals with the identification of plans and measures to cure diseases of humans and animals which are infectious to them.

• Industry: it involves use of microbes to produce antibiotics, steroids, alcohol, vitamins and amino acids etc.

History of Microbiology:

• Study of physics and mathematics flourished since ancient times, but it required millennia for biology developments.

• In the early era a  concept called “Spontaneous Generation” was in use which was even endorsed by Aristotle along with other scholars of that time or prior to them.

• Spontaneous Generation theory believed that the living organisms are also developed in nature from inanimate objects apart from living organisms like parents, seeds etc.

• E.g. Fleas were believed to get produced from dust, maggots from decomposing soil, tapeworms from horse tail hairs etc.

• Until about the 1880s, people still believed that life could form out of thin air and that sickness was caused by sins or bad odors.

• Varo and Columella in the first century BC postulated that diseases were caused by invisible beings (Animalia minuta) inhaled or ingested.

• Fracastorius of Verona (1546) proposed a contagium vivum as a possible cause of infectious disease.

• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) of Delft, Holland (Netherland) was the first person to observe and accurately describe microorganisms (bacteria and protozoa) called ‘animalcules’ (little animals) in 1676. He was also considered as the Father of Bacteriology and Protozoology.

• Robert Hooke,

  
  a 17th-century English scientist, was the first to use a lens to observe the smallest unit of tissues he called “cells.” 

• Louis Pasteur,

  
  in 1858 resolved the controversy of spontaneous generation versus biogenesis and proved that microorganisms are not spontaneously generated from inanimate matter but arise from other microorganisms. Louis Pasteur is known as the “Father of Modern Microbiology / Father of Bacteriology. Introduced process of “Pasteurization”. 

• John Tyndall (1820 – 1893):

  
  An English physicist, deal a final blow to spontaneous generation in 1877. He conducted experiments in an aseptically designed box to prove that dust indeed carried the germs. Introduced process of “Tyndalization”. 

• In 1876 a German Physician called “Robert Koch” first discovered bacteria causing Anthrax and then Tuberculosis. His work is famous as “Koch’s Postulates”.

• Richard Petri

  
  invented “Petri Dish” for the study of microorganisms, he was an apprentice of Robert Koch.

• Fanne Eilshemius Hesse

  
  first time used Agar as a nutrient medium and demonstrated its superiority over gelatin; he was also a coworker of Robert Koch.

• Edward Jenner (1749-1823)

  
  an English physician was the first to introduce the concept of vaccine and vaccination.

• Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915)

  
  laid the foundation of the use of chemicals in treatment of infectious diseases and the branch is now called “Chemotherapeutics”.

• Sir Alexander Fleming

  
  in 1929 discovered the first antibiotic penicillin.