🦠

History of Microbiology

Jun 2, 2024

History of Microbiology

Introduction

  • Microbiology: Study of living organisms of microscopic size.
  • Louis Pasteur: French chemist who coined the term 'Microbiology'.
  • Microbe: Term first used by Sedolet in 1878.
  • Roots: Expansion and development post-1850.

Classification of the History

  1. Discovery Era
  2. Transition Era
  3. Golden Era
  4. Modern Era

Discovery Era

  • Aristotle: Proposed spontaneous generation theory.
  • Robert Bacon: Disease caused by minute seed or germ.
  • Robert Hooke: First to use a lens to observe cells.
  • Antonie van Leeuwenhoek: Observed 'animalcules'; first precise descriptions of bacteria and protozoa.
    • Father of Microbiology, Bacteriology, and Protozoology.
    • Sent over 200 letters to Royal Society in London (1674-1723).

Transition Era

  • Spontaneous Generation: Believed simple life forms arose spontaneously.
  • Francesco Redi: Challenged spontaneous generation; showed microorganisms in the atmosphere.
  • John Needham: Supported spontaneous generation; microbes appeared in mutton broth experiments.
  • Lazaros Polanzani: Proved air carries germs; challenged Needham’s findings.

Golden Era

  • Louis Pasteur: Disproved spontaneous generation; principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, pasteurization.
    • Discovered vaccines for rabies and anthrax.
    • Proposed germ theory.
    • Revolutionized immunology with cholera vaccine.
    • Developed live attenuated vaccine against rabies.
  • John Tyndall: Demonstrated dust carries germs; discovered bacterial spores; developed tindalization.
  • Joseph Lister: Introduced antiseptic treatment; father of antiseptic surgery.
  • Edward Jenner: Prevented smallpox; contributions to vaccination.
  • Alexander Fleming: Discovered penicillin.
  • Paul Ehrlich: Treated syphilis with arsenic; laid foundations for chemotherapy.

Modern Era

  • Growth: Microbiology became an independent discipline and part of molecular biology.
  • Contributions by Nobel Laureates:
    • Von Behring: Antitoxins
    • Ronald Ross: Malaria
    • Robert Koch: Tuberculosis
    • Metchnikoff: Phagocytosis
    • Fleming: Penicillin
    • Watson and Crick: DNA structure
    • Holley and Coroner: Genetic code
    • Prusiner: Prions
    • Brenner: Contributions unnamed in transcript

Full transcript