Intro to Micropara

• Microorganisms are living things that are so small they can't be seen clearly without a microscope
• Microorganisms play an important role in the world, both for good and bad
• Microorganisms can be found everywhere, including on surfaces, in water, and in the air
• Microorganisms can be single cells or clusters of single cells, belonging to different kingdoms such as Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia
• Microorganisms are critical to element recycling in the environment, contributing to the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles
• Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms, with around 2,000 different microbes causing various types of diseases
• There are approximately 10 billion new infections across the world every year caused by pathogens
• Infectious diseases are among the most common causes of death worldwide
• Microbes are utilized in the production of food, such as alcoholic beverages, dairy products, and bread
• Microbes are also used in the production of industrial and medical products like antibiotics, vaccines, and plastics
• Antibiotics were discovered by Louis Pasteur and Alexander Fleming, inhibiting the growth of bacteria
• Genetically-engineered microorganisms can be used to produce biomedical reagents and useful genes
• Microbes play a role in decomposition, breaking down dead matter and wastes into simple compounds
• Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is a biological-based technology to manipulate microbial environments in oil reservoirs
• Microbes are abundant and ubiquitous, existing in the air, food, water, soil, and even on our bodies
• Microbiologists study various aspects of microorganisms, including cell structure, genetics, immunology, biochemistry, epidemiology, and ecology
• Microbiologists also study food microbiology, dairy microbiology, aquatic microbiology, agricultural microbiology, biotechnology, genetic engineering, and recombinant DNA technology
• Nurses historically had no knowledge of diseases, but the act of caring for individuals was essential to their practice
• As civilization progressed, new ideas and social constructs began to impact nursing, with some nurses becoming servants
• In ancient Persia or Babylon, slaves could be forced into nursing and if their master died, they could be burned alive to provide care in the afterlife
• Most societies were male dominated, and nurses were subservient to "doctors"
• Nursing regressed to the role of an assistant caregiver
• In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, nursing moved from wealthy families to nunneries and a few schools
• St. Vincent de Paul enriched nursing in the 1600s, recognizing it as a social force to help the ill, poor, hungry, sad, and lonely
• Florence Nightingale, born in 1820, began nursing in 1845 and became well known for her skills and healthcare reform push
• Nightingale's sanitation and infection control practices during the Crimean War reduced mortality rates significantly
• Florence Nightingale introduced cleanliness and antiseptic techniques into nursing
• Microorganisms are categorized into Prokaryotic (bacteria and cyanobacteria) and Eukaryotic (possessing membrane-bound organelles)
• Over 90% of microorganisms are neutral or beneficial to humans
• Less than 10% of microorganisms are harmful
• Microbiology history includes Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms, Pasteur's Swan Neck Flasks experiment, and Koch's work on anthrax and tuberculosis
• Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic surgery techniques, reducing wound infections
• John Tyndall demonstrated that dust carried germs, supporting the importance of sterility
• Robert Koch identified the bacterium causing anthrax and tuberculosis
• The Germ Theory of Disease states that microorganisms cause disease
• Koch's Postulates are used to prove if an infectious agent causes a disease
• Christian Gram developed the Gram stain technique
• Julius Richard Petri invented the petri dish for isolating pure cultures
• Iwanowski discovered the first virus, tobacco mosaic virus
• Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic, in the 1920s