MICROBIO:THE MICROBIAL WORLD AND ME

• Discoveries of the existence of cells (Hooke) and little animalcules (Van Leeuwenhoek) initiated a series of investigations that eventually led to the birth of Microbiology.
• The theory of biogenesis claims that living cells can arise only from preexisting living cells.
• Living things too small to be seen with the unaided eye are called microorganisms.
• Microorganisms are important in maintaining the Earth's ecological balance.
• Some microorganisms live in humans & animals and are needed to maintain good health, some used to produce foods and chemicals.
• While some microorganisms cause disease.
• Germ Theory of Disease considers the possibility that microorganisms might have similar relationships with plants and animals - that microorganisms or "germs" caused disease.
• Treatment of disease through the use of chemical substances is called chemotherapy.
• Chemotherapy is commonly used to describe medications used to treat cancer.
• Antibiotics are chemicals produced naturally by bacteria/fungi to act against other microorganisms.
• Synthetic drugs are chemotherapeutic agents prepared from chemicals in the laboratory.
• Vaccination is a preventive procedure involving the administration of a small amount of live or inactivated microorganism to stimulate immunity.
• The term "vaccination" originated from the Latin term "Vacca" which means "cow".
• Edward Jenner discovered that a milkmaid who previously contracted cowpox (mild form) was not afflicted by smallpox (severe form) and collected scrapings from cowpox blisters to prepare pox-contaminated needles.
• Recent outbreaks point to the fact that infectious diseases are not disappearing, with new diseases appearing or resurging such as H1N1 Influenza, Avian H1N1 Influenza (Bird flu), MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylócoccus aureus), E. coli, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and SARS Corona Viruses (COVID-19).
• Antibiotics/chemotherapeutic drugs are not without problems as they can kill the good microbial flora, some can kill pathogenic microbes but can damage infected host cells as well, and some are too toxic for humans and human cells.
• An infectious disease is a disease in which pathogens invade a susceptible host, carrying out at least a part of its life cycle inside the host, resulting in disease.
• Majority of microbes benefit humans, animals, and plants in many ways by recycling vital elements, recycling water, removing pollutants, and controlling pests.
• Biofilms are complex aggregations of microorganisms attached to each other and/or a solid surface, which can be beneficial by protecting the mucous membranes from harmful microbes, but can also be harmful by clogging pipes or infecting prosthetics.
• Infectious diseases remain the second most common cause of death worldwide and affect low- to middle-income countries more than high-income countries.
• Emergence and spread of new strains that are resistant to the current antibiotics is a major concern in modern medicine.
• Bacteriology, Mycology, Parasitology, Virology, Immunology, and Recombinant DNA Technology are branches of Microbiology.
• Penicillin was discovered by accident when a mold identified as Penicillium notatum produced an active bacterial inhibitor substance.
• Edward Jenner then inoculated a healthy 8-year old volunteer by scratching the arm with a pox-contaminated needle.
• The volunteer became mildly sick in a few days but recovered and never again contracted cowpox or smallpox.
• Before, the only known chemical used to treat malaria in Europe was an extract from the bark of South American cinchona tree (quinine).
• In 1910, Paul Ehrlich discovered salvarsan, an arsenic derivative found effective against syphilis.
• By late 1930s, scientists developed drugs derived from dyes used for fabrics, and eventually discovered the sulfur-derived sulfa drugs (sulfonamides).
• Alexander Flemming observed that culture media containing bacterial colonies but contaminated with the mold Penicillium showed inhibition of growth around the mold.