Cards (40)

  • 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