Early history of microbiology.

Historians are unsure who made the Iirst observations oI microorganisms,

but the microscope was available during the mid-1600s, and an English scientist named #obert Hooke
made key observations. He is reputed to have observed strands oI Iungi among the specimens oI cells he
viewed. In the 1670s and the decades thereaIter, a Dutch merchant named Anton van Leeuwenhoek
made careIul observations oI microscopic organisms, which he called animalcules. Until his death in
1723, van Leeuwenhoek revealed the microscopic world to scientists oI the day and is regarded as one oI
the Iirst to provide accurate descriptions oI protozoa, Iungi, and bacteria.

AIter van Leeuwenhoek died, the study oI microbiology did not develop rapidly because microscopes
were rare and the interest in microorganisms was not high. In those years, scientists debated the theory oI
spontaneous generation, which stated that microorganisms arise Irom liIeless matter such as beeI broth.
This theory was disputed by Francesco #edi, who showed that Ily maggots do not arise Irom decaying
meat (as others believed) iI the meat is covered to prevent the entry oI Ilies. An English cleric named
1ohn Needham advanced spontaneous generation, but Lazzaro Spallanzani disputed the theory by
showing that boiled broth would not give rise to microscopic Iorms oI liIe.
Louis Pasteur and the germ theory. Louis Pasteur worked in the middle and late 1800s. He perIormed
numerous experiments to discover why wine and dairy products became sour, and he Iound that bacteria
were to blame. Pasteur called attention to the importance oI microorganisms in everyday liIe and stirred
scientists to think that iI bacteria could make the wine 'sick, then perhaps they could cause human
illness.

Pasteur had to disprove spontaneous generation to sustain his theory, and he thereIore devised a series oI
swan-necked flasks Iilled with broth. He leIt the Ilasks oI broth open to the air, but the Ilasks had a curve
in the neck so that microorganisms would Iall into the neck, not the broth. The Ilasks did not become
contaminated (as he predicted they would not), and Pasteur's experiments put to rest the notion oI
spontaneous generation. His work also encouraged the belieI that microorganisms were in the air and
could cause disease. Pasteur postulated the germ theory of disease, which states that microorganisms are
the causes oI inIectious disease.

Pasteur's attempts to prove the germ theory were unsuccessIul. However, the German scientist #obert
Koch provided the prooI by cultivating anthrax bacteria apart Irom any other type oI organism. He then
injected pure cultures oI the bacilli into mice and showed that the bacilli invariably caused anthrax. The
procedures used by Koch came to be known as Koch's postulates (Figure 1 ). They provided a set oI
principles whereby other microorganisms could be related to other diseases.






Figure 1 The steps of Kochs postulates used to relate a specific microorganism to a specific disease. (a)
Microorganisms are observed in a sick animal and (b) cultivated in the lab. (c) The organisms are
infected into a healthy animal, and (d) the animal develops the disease. (e) The organisms are observed
in the sick animal and (f) reisolated in the lab.


%he development of microbiology. In the late 1800s and Ior the Iirst decade oI the 1900s, scientists
seized the opportunity to Iurther develop the germ theory oI disease as enunciated by Pasteur and proved
by Koch. There emerged a Golden Age of Microbiology during which many agents oI diIIerent
inIectious diseases were identiIied. Many oI the etiologic agents oI microbial disease were discovered
during that period, leading to the ability to halt epidemics by interrupting the spread oI microorganisms.
Despite the advances in microbiology, it was rarely possible to render liIe-saving therapy to an inIected
patient. Then, aIter World War II, the antibiotics were introduced to medicine. The incidence oI
pneumonia, tuberculosis, meningitis, syphilis, and many other diseases declined with the use oI
antibiotics.

Work with viruses could not be eIIectively perIormed until instruments were developed to help scientists
see these disease agents. In the 1940s, the electron microscope was developed and perIected. In that
decade, cultivation methods Ior viruses were also introduced, and the knowledge oI viruses developed
rapidly. With the development oI vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s, such viral diseases as polio, measles,
mumps, and rubella came under control.

Modern microbiology. Modern microbiology reaches into many Iields oI human endeavor, including the
development oI pharmaceutical products, the use oI quality-control methods in Iood and dairy product
production, the control oI disease-causing microorganisms in consumable waters, and the industrial
applications oI microorganisms. Microorganisms are used to produce vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and
growth supplements. They manuIacture many Ioods, including Iermented dairy products (sour cream,
yogurt, and buttermilk), as well as other Iermented Ioods such as pickles, sauerkraut, breads, and alcoholic
beverages.

One oI the major areas oI applied microbiology is biotechnology. In this discipline, microorganisms are
used as living Iactories to produce pharmaceuticals that otherwise could not be manuIactured. These
substances include the human hormone insulin, the antiviral substance interIeron, numerous blood-clotting
Iactors and clotdissolving enzymes, and a number oI vaccines. Bacteria can be reengineered to increase
plant resistance to insects and Irost, and biotechnology will represent a major application oI
microorganisms in the next century.















HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY OF MICROBIO

1677
Observed "little animals" (Antony
Leeuwenhoek)

1796
First scientific Small pox vaccination (Edward
1enner)

1850
Advocated washing hands to stop the spread
of disease (Ignaz Semmelweis)

1861
Disproved spontaneous generation (Louis
Pasteur)

1862
Supported Germ %heory of Disease (Louis
Pasteur)

1867
Practiced antiseptic surgery (1oseph Lister)

1876
First proof of Germ %heory of Disease with B.
anthracis discovery (#obert Koch)

1881
Growth of Bacteria on solid media (#obert
Koch)

1882
Outlined Kochs postulates (#obert Koch)

1882
Developed acid-fast Stain (Paul Ehrlich)

1884
Developed Gram Stain (Christian Gram)

1885
First #abies vaccination (Louis Pasteur)

1887
Invented Petri Dish (#.1. Petri)

1892
Discovered viruses (Dmitri Iosifovich
Ivanovski)

1899
#ecognized viral dependence on cells for
reproduction (Martinus Beijerinck)

1900
Proved mosquitoes carried the yellow fever
agent (Walter #eed)

1910
Discovered cure for syphilis (Paul Ehrlich)

1928
Discovered Penicillin (Alexander Fleming)

1977
Developed a method to sequence DNA (W.
Gilbert & F. Sanger)

1983
Polymerase Chain #eaction invented (Kary
Mullis)

1995
First microbial genomic sequence published
(H. influenzae) (%IG#)
History

Ancient
The existence oI microorganisms was hypothesized Ior many centuries beIore their actual discovery. The
existence oI unseen microbiological liIe was postulated by Jainism which is based on Mahavira`s
teachings as early as 6th century BCE. Paul Dundas notes that Mahavira asserted existence oI unseen
microbiological creatures living in earth, water, air and Iire. Jain scriptures also describe nigodas which
are sub-microscopic creatures living in large clusters and having a very short liIe and are said to pervade
each and every part oI the universe, even in tissues oI plants and Ilesh oI animals. The Roman Marcus
Terentius Varro made reIerences to microbes when he warned against locating a homestead in the vicinity
oI swamps "because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which Iloat

in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases."
In 1546 Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transIerable seedlike
entities that could transmit inIection by direct or indirect contact, or even without contact over long
distances.

However, early claims about the existence oI microorganisms were speculative, and not based on
microscopic observation. Actual observation and discovery oI microbes had to await the invention oI the
microscope in the 17th century.

Modern
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, was considered to be the Iirst to observe microorganisms using a microscope.
In 1676, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observed bacteria and other microorganisms, using a single-lens
microscope oI his own design. While Van Leeuwenhoek is oIten cited as the Iirst to observe microbes,
Robert Hooke made the Iirst recorded microscopic observation, oI the Iruiting bodies oI molds, in 1665..
The Iirst observation oI microbes using a microscope is generally credited to the Dutch draper and
haberdasher, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who lived Ior most oI his liIe in DelIt, Holland. It has, however
been suggested that a Jesuit priest called Athanasius Kircher was the Iirst to observe micro-organisms. He
was among the Iirst to design magic lanterns Ior projection purposes, so he must have been well
acquainted with the properties oI lenses. One oI his book contains a chapter in Latin, which reads in
translation Concerning the wonderIul structure oI things in nature, investigated by Microscope. Here,
he wrote who would believe that vinegar and milk abound with an innumerable multitude oI worms.` He
also noted that putrid material is Iull oI innumerable creeping animalcule. These observations antedate
Robert Hooke`s Micrographia by nearly 20 years and were published some 29 years beIore van
Leeuwenhoek saw protozoa and 37 years beIore he described having seen bacteria.

The Iield oI bacteriology (later a subdiscipline oI microbiology) was Iounded in the 19th century by
Ferdinand Cohn, a botanist whose studies on algae and photosynthetic bacteria led him to describe several
bacteria including acillus and eggiatoa. Cohn was also the Iirst to Iormulate a scheme Ior the
taxonomic classiIication oI bacteria and discover spores. Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch were
contemporaries oI Cohn`s and are oIten considered to be the Iather oI microbiology and medical
microbiology, respectively. Pasteur is most Iamous Ior his series oI experiments designed to disprove the
then widely held theory oI spontaneous generation, thereby solidiIying microbiology`s identity as a
biological science. Pasteur also designed methods Ior Iood preservation (pasteurization) and vaccines
against several diseases such as anthrax, Iowl cholera and rabies. Koch is best known Ior his contributions
to the germ theory oI disease, proving that speciIic diseases were caused by speciIic pathogenic micro-
organisms. He developed a series oI criteria that have become known as the Koch's postulates. Koch was
one oI the Iirst scientists to Iocus on the isolation oI bacteria in pure culture resulting in his description oI
several novel bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent oI tuberculosis.

While Pasteur and Koch are oIten considered the Iounders oI microbiology, their work did not accurately
reIlect the true diversity oI the microbial world because oI their exclusive Iocus on micro-organisms
having direct medical relevance. It was not until the late 19th century and the work oI Martinus Beijerinck
and Sergei Winogradsky, the Iounders oI general microbiology (an older term encompassing aspects oI
microbial physiology, diversity and ecology), that the true breadth oI microbiology was revealed.
Beijerinck made two major contributions to microbiology: the discovery oI viruses and the development
oI enrichment culture techniques. While his work on the Tobacco Mosaic Virus established the basic
principles oI virology, it was his development oI enrichment culturing that had the most immediate impact
on microbiology by allowing Ior the cultivation oI a wide range oI microbes with wildly diIIerent
physiologies. Winogradsky was the Iirst to develop the concept oI chemolithotrophy and to thereby reveal
the essential role played by micro-organisms in geochemical processes. He was responsible Ior the Iirst
isolation and description oI both nitriIying and nitrogen-Iixing bacteria.