Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Chapter 1 History of Microbiology
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Chapter 1 History of Microbiology
BASIC DISCRIPTION OF MICROBIOLOGY
They’re out there! You can’t see them but they can see you. Right at this very moment they are living on and in your body, and there is nothing you can do about it!
This may sound like the beginning of a horror movie, but it isn’t. It is actually a very basic description of a very broad subject: microbiology.
Microbiology is a complex subject that spans out into a variety of areas. I am a person who is entering the health care field, and it is inparitive that I know the subject of microbiology and how if effects the world in which we live.
Part one of this essay will deal with defining bacteria, viruses, fungi, microbes, and pirons. Part two of the essay will focus on indigenous micro flora that is on and in the body, and part three will describe the structure and replication procedure of viruses.
Part one
As stated by Prescott, Harley and Klein (1990) microbiology is the study of organisms that are usually too small to be seen with the naked eye.
According to Jenson and Wright (1989) a pathogen is a disease-producing organism.
They also describe microbes as organisms that are often too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope. Microbes, also known as microorganisms, can be broken down into four classifications that are bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa.
Prescott, Harley & Klein (1990) describe bacteria as prokaryotic cells (cells that lack a true membrane enclosed nucleus). Bacteria are both small and simple in structure; they usually are between o.5 and 5cmm yet they have many characteristic shapes and sizes. Some bacteria are circular or oval shaped, they are known as cocci bacteria. Other bacteria are rod-shaped, they are known as bacilli bacteria, and some bacteria are spiral and coil-shaped and it is know as spirilla bacteria.
Engelkirk & Burton (1979) state that bacteria can reproduce asexually by simple division of cells and some bacteria reproduce sexually by conjunction. A bacterium is a waste producer of products and secretions. This allows pathogens to invade their hosts to cause disease some of these harmful diseases are Scarlet fever, an acute illness, characterized by a reddish skin rash, which is caused by systematic infection with the bacterium streptococcus. St. Anthony’s Fire is another bacterial disease. “St. Anthony’s Fire which is an acute superficial form of celluitus involving the dermal lymphatic, usually caused by infection with streptococci and chiefly characterized by a peripherally spreading hot, bright red, oedematous.
In short, the book 'Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History' explains the dynamism, the changing interactions between humans and microbes, and the way and extent to which these interactions have influenced the human cultural history. This book is very useful because it tell us that we must strive to understand what makes microbes successful as we are faced with unrelenting microbial drug resistance. Microbes mutate to fatal human pandemics and it’s for this reason that we need to adopt a microbe centric world views.
In addition, there is the great debate of who was the inventor of the game of baseball: Was it Abner Doubleday in 1839 or Alexander Cartwright Jr. in 1845? Historians say Abner Doubleday invented the game know as baseball in Cooperstown, New York in the year of 1839. While baseball became America’s beloved National Pastime, Doubleday then went on to become a civil war hero. Historians don’t think this story is true, as a matter of fact they don’t think it’s even in the ballpark. Doubleday was still at West Point in 1839, and he also never claimed that he had anything to do with baseball, some sources say. Dating back to the 18th century two games that were combined together to resemble baseball were rounders and cricket. Alexander Cartwright Jr. combined the games of rounders and cricket to create the game of baseball.
Microbiology is the study of organisms that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. These living organisms, known as microorganisms, are believed to be the cause of infectious diseases long before they were discovered. My interest in microorganisms stems from personal experience with the impacts they have on every aspect of human life. Microbiology is a crucial area of knowledge and study in life sciences, and research continues to aid us in understanding the world the around us.
It was Thanksgiving Day in 1887, and just like men would today, they were watching football. The alumni of Harvard and Yale got together to cheer on their former schools. After the game, a man from Yale, in celebration, picked up a boxing glove and tossed it across the room at the Harvard graduates. Using a broom handle one of the Harvard men hit the glove away. This gave George Hancock, one of the men who was gathered there for the game, an idea. He took two boxing gloves tied them together and made a large ball. Then he chalked out a small diamond, like the ones in baseball, and broke a broom handle to use as a bat (History). The group of twenty played the first game of what would become known as softball. After an hour, the game ended with a score of 41-40 (History). At the time the game was called indoor baseball, and became a popular sport in the city of it’s creation, Chicago (History).
A Prokaryote is a single cell organisms that does not have a nucleus, which is divided into two major groups: archaeabacteria and bacteria. Prokaryotes are usually found in three common structures, such as bacillus is rod shaped, crocus is spherical-shaped, and spirillum is long shape. Although there are prokaryotes that are responsible for diseases there are also good types of bacteria that we need. Prokaryotes provide essential services to biological systems for instance food and agriculture.
Humans need various things in our lives in order for us to continue our growth. When we are infants, we need milk to meet our daily nutritional values. As we get older we need plenty of physical activity. We also need to rest often to allow our bodies a chance to repair themselves. Microbes are no different in that they need many things for them to survive and grow. In the following paragraphs, I’d like to look at five factors that can affect a microbe’s ability to grow.
These germs, or organisms, are often living in or on our bodies. Most of the time they are harmless, and sometimes they are helpful.2 These organisms are often called microorganisms because they are so small they can only be seen through a microscope. There are millions of microorganisms living in your body that help with body functions. The problem is when a microorganism that can cause disease enters your body and starts to multiply. These unwanted microorganisms are called pathogens. Pathogens can be bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoans and insects or animals.3
1. Claim: (origin) the origin of baseball is shady at best, but one story stands out in American history is that Baseball originated from two British games, cricket, and rounders. The real inventor of the rules of the game was Alexander Cartwright, a bookseller.
Microorganism is a living thing that cannot be seen by naked eye and is so small in size. Microorganism usually can be seen through microscope because microscope have the ability to see small thing using various magnification. The examples of microorganism are bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae and virus. Among all of the microorganisms, bacteria have the greatest advantages in preserving food and beverages. Bacteria are generally harmless but can produce enzymes that can alter the structure the food. In extreme cases, bacteria can secrete toxic substances that can cause the food to spoil.
"Genetically Modified Food." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 May 2014.
Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.
Microbes are microscopic life forms, usually too small to be seen by the naked eye. Although many microbes are single-celled, there are also numerous multi-cellular organisms. The human body has 10-100 trillion microbes living on it, making it one giant super-organism. Since the first link between microbes and diseases was made, people have been advised to wash their hands. Scientists, however, have recently started to investigate more closely how the microbes that call the human body home affect our health. While some microbes cause disease, others are more beneficial, working with our bodies in many subtle ways.
The term “microbiology” refers to the branch of study that deals with microorganisms. Microbiology is extremely important in today’s time for the crucial information that the study provides. Human’s have had a long and cruel history of disease and sickness, for example the bubonic plague, but microbiology gives scientists the ability to observe, study, and prevent sickness like the bubonic plague to ever happen again. At the center of microbiology lies the bacterial cell, one that differs from those of a plant or animal because it lacks a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles which, in turn are traded for pili, flagella, and in some cases a cell capsule. Bacteria that are capable of causing illness or disease are called pathogens, pathogens work by releasing toxins in the body or directly damaging the host’s cells. An article by Lise Wilkinson explains that the earliest categorizations of bacterial cells first occurred in the late eighteen-hundreds to the early nineteen-hundreds by scientists (at the time) O. Muller and C. Ehrenburg (Wilkinson, 2004). The observation and identification of unknown bacteria that emerge is crucial because these new bacteria might be pathogenic and cause illness so it is very important that the bacteria is identified as soon as possible in order to either prevent the upcoming illness or treat it. While the common person is unable to identify if they are carrying bacteria (which is very likely), specialized tests that are ran in a lab can identify different types of bacteria and can even help
Furthermore, Pamela Ronald applies ethos in her speech to effectively convince the listeners that genetically modified foods are healthy and affordable. Ronald states,” Raoul and I believe that, instead of worrying about the genes in our food, we must focus on how we can help children
My favorite organism is amoeba. Amoebae (plural amoeba) are protozoans that belong to Amoebozoa kingdom. They consist of single celled organisms that have no definite shapes. These organisms are categorized as protist, a group of neither animals nor plant. Because Amoebae are mostly very tiny organism, microscope is needed to observe them while some are large enough to be observed with naked eyes.