IndietroMicrobiology Unit 1: Overview and History
Termini in questo insieme (21)
Microbiology is the study of living organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye, including microbes and microorganisms.
A pathogen is a disease-causing microorganism.
A pure culture contains a single kind of microorganism.
Spontaneous generation or abiogenesis is the disproven hypothesis that living organisms can originate from non-living matter.
Sterilization is the process of destroying all living microorganisms contaminating media.
Pasteurization is heating foods to eliminate harmful microbes while retaining non-harmful ones.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) made the first compound microscope in 1665 and coined the term cell from observing cork samples.
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) created a single-lens microscope and discovered microorganisms in 1684, known as the father of microbiology.
Francesco Redi disproved spontaneous generation by showing that maggots on meat came from flies, not from the meat itself.
Louis Pasteur showed microbes in air cause contamination, developed the Pasteur flask, and created vaccines for rabies, anthrax, and fowl cholera.
The Germ Theory states that microorganisms cause disease.
Koch's postulates are criteria to prove a microorganism causes a disease, including isolation, pure culture growth, disease reproduction, and re-isolation.
Aseptic techniques prevent contamination by unwanted microorganisms during handling and culturing.
Joseph Lister applied germ theory to surgery by using antiseptics to kill microbes and prevent infections.
Microbes like algae and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis, contributing about 50% of Earth's atmospheric oxygen.
Microbes decompose dead matter, cycle nutrients, fix nitrogen, and produce greenhouse gases like CO2 and CH4.
Biotechnology uses microbes or their products commercially, including food preservation, pharmaceuticals, and genetic engineering.
Genetic engineering manipulates microbial, plant, or animal genetics to create new products or organisms.
Examples include bacteria producing insulin, yeast synthesizing hormones, and plants with delayed ripening.
Microbes cause diseases like malaria, AIDS, and emerging infections such as SARS and Ebola.
Bioremediation uses microbes to degrade pollutants, industrial wastes, and household garbage.