The Blind Men and the Elephant

“The sensual eye is just like the palm of the hand. The palm has not the means of covering the whole of the beast.” (Rumi)
Introduction to Microbiology

 Describe the historical development of

microbiology
 Enumerate the development of science with
emphasis on person/scientists and their
contributions
 Explain the divisions of microbiology
 Define terms
Historical Development
The beginnings…
1665, England – Robert Hooke
 Book “Micrographia”
 Compound microscope and its uses
 Cell theory: “All living things are composed
of cells.”
 History of cell biology

Jan Swammerdam – red blood cells

Regnier de Graaf – Graafian follicles (animal
ovary)
Marcello Malpighi – tiny capillaries of an
animal’s cardiovascular system.

 Importance of the microscope as a tool for unlocking the secrets of nature.

Images: Hooke memorial window, St Helen's Bishopsgate (now destroyed); flea, from Micrographia; title page from Micrographia; drawing of cells (the first Biological use of the word) in cork.
Historical Development: The Beginnings…
1673 to 1723, Delft, Holland - Anton van Leeuwenhoek
 First to observe live microorganisms (animalcules)
 Single-lens microscope
Historical Development: The Beginnings…
“My work, which I've done for a
long time, was not pursued in
order to gain the praise I now
enjoy, but chiefly from a
craving after knowledge,
which I notice resides in me
more than in most other men.
And therewithal, whenever I
found out anything
remarkable, I have thought it
my duty to put down my
discovery on paper, so that all
ingenious people might be
informed thereof.”
Letter of June 12, 1716
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)
Historical Development: The Transition Period

1700s – Focused on plant and animal life and the

attempts of scientists to place the organisms in
some logical order.
Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist
 Book “Systema Naturae”, 1735; Binomial

nomenclature; each organism has two names: the

genus and specific epithet.
 Are italicized or underlined. The genus is capitalized

and the specific epithet is lower case.

 Are “Latinized” and used worldwide. May be

descriptive or honor a scientist.

Historical Development: The Transition Period
 Staphylococcus aureus
 Describes the clustered arrangement
of the cells (staphylo) and the golden
color of the colonies.
 Escherichia coli
 Honors the discoverer, Theodor Escherich, and describes
the bacterium’s habitat, the large intestine or colon.
 After the first use, scientific names may be
abbreviated with the first letter of the genus and the
specific epithet:
 Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are found in
the human body. S. aureus is on skin and E. coli, in the
large intestine.
Historical Development: The Transition Period
Spontaneous Generation

 Aristotle’s hypothesis: Decaying material could be

transformed by the ‘spontaneous action of nature’
into living animals.
 toads, frogs, snakes and mice – moist/muddy soil or moldy
grain
 flies and maggots - manure and decaying flesh (rotten
meat)
 rats – sewage and garbage
 Jan Baptista van Helmont’s recipe for mice:
 Place a dirty shirt or some rags in an open pot or barrel
containing a few grains of wheat or some wheat bran, and in
21 days, mice will appear. There will be adult males and
females present, and they will be capable of mating and
reproducing more mice.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation Debate
In 1668, Francesco Redi, an Italian physician.
 first real experiment to dispute the theory

Conclusion: Only flies can make more flies. In the uncovered jars, flies entered and laid eggs on the meat. Maggots hatched from these eggs and grew into
more adult flies. Adult flies laid eggs on the gauze on the gauze-covered jars. These eggs or the maggots from them dropped through the gauze onto the
meat. In the sealed jars, no flies, maggots, nor eggs could enter, thus none were seen in those jars. Maggots arose only where flies were able to lay eggs.
This experiment disproved the idea of spontaneous generation for larger organisms.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation Debate
1745 (1748?): John Needham
 Put boiled nutrient broth into covered flasks = + Microbial growth
 Claimed that there was a “life force” present in the molecules of all inorganic matter,
including air and the oxygen in it, that could cause spontaneous generation to occur,
thus accounting for the presence of bacteria in his soups.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation Debate
1765: Lazzaro Spallanzani
 1st, boiled soup (1 hour), sealed glass flasks = No microbial growth.
 2nd, boiled soup (a few minutes) before sealing the flasks = +
Microbial growth.
 3rd, soup boiled (1 hour), flasks sealed with real-corks (air) = +
Microbial growth.
 Concluded that while 1 hour of boiling would sterilize the soup, only a
few minutes of boiling was not enough to kill any bacteria initially
present, and the microorganisms in the flasks of spoiled soup had
entered from the air.
 Initiated a heated argument over sterilization
(boiled broth in closed vs. open containers)
as a way of refuting spontaneous generation.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation versus Biogenesis
1858 – Rudolph Virchow: “Every cell comes from a cell.”
By 1860, Paris Academy of Sciences offered a prize for any
experiments that would help resolve the conflict about
spontaneous generation.
The prize was claimed in 1864 by Louis Pasteur:
 Observation: From Needham’s and Spallanzani’s
experiments, it was known that soup that was exposed
to the air spoiled — bacteria grew in it.
 Question: Is there indeed a “life force” present in air
(or oxygen) that can cause bacteria to develop by
spontaneous generation? Is there a means of allowing
air to enter a container, thus any life force, if such does
exist, but not the bacteria that are present in that air?
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation versus Biogenesis
 Hypothesis: There is no such life force in air,
and a container of sterilized broth will remain
sterile, even if exposed to the air, as long as
bacteria cannot enter the flask.

 Prediction: If there is no life force, broth in

swan-neck flasks should remain sterile, even if
exposed to air, because any bacteria in the air
will settle on the walls of the initial portion of the
neck. Broth in flasks plugged with cotton should
remain sterile because the cotton is able to filter
bacteria out of the air.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation versus Biogenesis
 Testing: Pasteur boiled broth in various-shaped flasks to
sterilize it, then let it cool. As the broth and air in the
containers cooled, fresh room air was drawn into the
containers. None of the flasks were sealed — all were
exposed to the outside air in one way or another.
control group — Some flasks opened straight up, so
not only air, but any bacteria present in that air, could get
into them.
experimental groups — Pasteur used some flasks with
long, S-shaped necks (swan-neck flasks) and closed
others with cotton plugs. This allowed air to enter these
flasks, but the long, swan neck or the cotton balls filtered
out any bacteria present in that air. He subsequently
broke the long necks off some of the swan-neck flasks.
replication — Pasteur used several flasks in each of his
groups.
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation versus Biogenesis
 Data: Broth in flasks with necks opening straight up
spoiled (as evidenced by a bad odor, cloudiness in
previously clear broth, and microscopic examination of
the broth confirming the presence of bacteria), while
broth in swan-neck flasks did not, even though fresh air
could get it. Broth in flasks with cotton plugs did not
spoil, even though air could get through the cotton. If the
neck of a swan-neck flask was broken off short, allowing
bacteria to enter, then the broth became contaminated.
 Conclusion: There is no such life force in air, and
organisms do not arise by spontaneous generation in
this manner. To quote Louis Pasteur, “Life is a germ, and
a germ is Life. Never will the doctrine of spontaneous
generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple
experiment.”
Historical Development: The Transition Period,
Spontaneous Generation versus Biogenesis
Historical Development - THE GOLDEN AGE OF MICROBIOLOGY:
Fermentation and Pasteurization
 1857-1914
 Beginning with Pasteur’s work, discoveries
included the relationship between microbes and
disease, immunity, and antimicrobial drugs
 Microbes are responsible for fermentation.
 Fermentation is the conversion of sugar to
alcohol to make beer and wine.
 Microbial growth is responsible for spoilage of
food.
 Bacteria that use alcohol and produce acetic
acid spoil wine by turning it to vinegar (acetic
acid).
 Spoilage bacteria could be killed by heat that
was not hot enough to evaporate the alcohol in
wine. This application of a high heat for a short
time is called pasteurization.
The Germ Theory of Disease

 Hard for people to believe that diseases were

caused by tiny invisible “wee animalcules”
 Diseases, they thought, were caused by:
 demons
 witchcraft
 bad luck
 the wrath of God
 curses
 evil spirits
Historical Development - THE GOLDEN AGE OF MICROBIOLOGY:
The Germ of Theory of Disease
 1835: Agostino Bassi showed a
silkworm disease was caused by a
fungus.
 1865: Pasteur believed that another
silkworm disease was caused by a
protozoan.
 1840s: Ignaz Semmelweis
advocated handwashing to
prevent transmission of
puerperal fever from one OB
patient to another.
Historical Development - THE GOLDEN AGE OF MICROBIOLOGY:
The Germ of Theory of Disease

 1860s: Joseph Lister used a chemical disinfectant

(carbolic acid) to prevent surgical wound infections
after looking at Pasteur’s work showing microbes
are in the air, can spoil food, and cause animal
diseases.

 1876: Robert Koch provided proof that a bacterium

causes anthrax and provided the experimental
steps, Koch’s postulates, used to prove that a
specific microbe causes a specific disease.
Koch’s Postulates
Exceptions to Koch’s Postulates

1. Many healthy people carry pathogens but

do not exhibit symptoms of the disease.
These “carriers” may transmit the
pathogens to others who then may become
diseased. (hospital-acquired infections,
typhoid fever, diphtheria)
2. Some microbes are very difficult or
impossible to grow in vitro in artificial media.
(viruses, rickettsias, chlamydias, M. leprae,
T. pallidum)
Exceptions to Koch’s Postulates

3. To induce a disease from a pure culture, the

experimental animal must be susceptible to
that pathogen. Many animals (rats) are very
resistant to microbial infections. Many
pathogens are species-specific. (V. cholerae
that causes cholera in humans does not
cause hog cholera and vice versa.) Use of
human volunteers – difficult to find; ethical
considerations limit their use
Exceptions to Koch’s Postulates
4. Certain diseases develop only when an opportunistic
pathogen invades a weakened host. These secondary
invaders or opportunists cause disease in a person who
is ill or recovering from another disease. (pneumonia and
ear infections which may follow influenza)
Koch established the Microbial Etiology of 3 important
diseases of his day:
 Cholera (fecal-oral disease)
 Vibrio cholerae

 2. Tuberculosis (pulmonary infection)

 Mycobacterium tuberculosis

 3. Anthrax (sheep and cattle)

 Bacillus anthracis
Historical Development: Vaccination
 1796: Edward Jenner
inoculated a person
with cowpox virus.
The person was then
protected from
smallpox.
 Called vaccination
from vacca for cow
 The protection is
called immunity
Historical Development:
The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
 Treatment with chemicals is chemotherapy.
 Chemotherapeutic agents used to treat infectious
disease can be synthetic drugs or antibiotics.
 Antibiotics are chemicals produced by bacteria and
fungi that inhibit or kill other microbes.
 Quinine from tree bark was long used to treat
malaria.
 1910: Paul Ehrlich developed a synthetic arsenic
drug, salvarsan, to treat syphilis.
 1930s: Sulfonamides were synthesized.
Historical Development:
The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
 1928: Alexander
Fleming discovered the
first antibiotic.
 He observed that
Penicillium fungus
made an antibiotic,
penicillin, that killed S.
aureus.
 1940s: Penicillin was
tested clinically and
mass produced.
Historical Development:
Modern Developments in Microbiology
 Bacteriology is the study of bacteria.
 Mycology is the study of fungi.
 Parasitology is the study of protozoa and
parasitic worms.
 Recent advances in genomics, the study of
an organism’s genes, have provided new
tools for classifying microorganisms.
Historical Development:
Modern Developments in Microbiology
 Immunology is the study of
immunity. Vaccines and
interferons are being
investigated to prevent and cure
viral diseases.
 The use of immunology to
identify some bacteria according
to serotypes (variants within a
species) was proposed by
Rebecca Lancefield in 1933.
Historical Development:
Modern Developments in Microbiology
 Virology is the study of viruses.
 Recombinant DNA is DNA made from two
different sources. In the 1960s, Paul Berg
inserted animal DNA into bacterial DNA and
the bacteria produced an animal protein.
 Recombinant DNA technology or genetic
engineering involves microbial genetics and
molecular biology.
Historical Development:
Modern Developments in Microbiology
 Using microbes
 George Beadle and Edward Tatum showed that
genes encode a cell’s enzymes (1942)
 Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn
McCarty showed that DNA was the hereditary
material (1944).
 Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod discovered
the role of mRNA in protein synthesis (1961).
Selected Novel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine

1901* von Behring Diphtheria

antitoxin
1902 Ross Malaria transmission
1905 Koch TB bacterium
1908 Metchnikoff Phagocytes
1945 Fleming, Chain, Florey Penicillin
1952 Waksman Streptomycin
1969 Delbrück, Hershey, Luria Viral replication
1987 Tonegawa Antibody genetics
1997 Prusiner Prions
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Welfare
Microbial Ecology
 Bacteria recycle carbon,
nutrients, sulfur, and phosphorus
that can be used by plants and
animals.

Bioremediation
 Bacteria degrade organic matter

in sewage.
 Bacteria degrade or detoxify

pollutants such as oil and

mercury
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Welfare
Biological Insecticides
 Microbes that are pathogenic to

insects are alternatives to chemical

pesticides to prevent insect damage
to agricultural crops and disease
transmission.
• Bacillus thuringiensis infections are

fatal in many insects but harmless

to other animals including humans
and to plants.
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Welfare
Modern Biotechnology
and Genetic Engineering
 Biotechnology, the use of microbes

to produce foods and chemicals

(centuries old)
 Genetic engineering - a new technique

for biotechnology. Bacteria and fungi

can produce a variety of proteins including vaccines and
enzymes.
 Missing or defective genes in human cells can be replaced

in gene therapy.
 Genetically modified bacteria - used to protect crops from

insects and freezing.

Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
 Bacteria were once classified as plants which gave rise to use of
the term flora for microbes.
 This term has been replaced by microbiota.
 Microbes normally present in and on the human body are called
normal microbiota.
 Normal microbiota prevent growth of pathogens.
 Normal microbiota produce growth factors such as folic acid and
vitamin K.
 Resistance is the ability of the body to ward off disease.
 Resistance factors include skin, stomach acid, and antimicrobial
chemicals.
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
Infectious Diseases
 When a pathogen overcomes the host’s resistance, disease results.
 Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID): New diseases and diseases increasing
in incidence
Emerging Infectious Diseases
 West Nile encephalitis
 West Nile Virus

 First diagnosed in the West Nile region of Uganda in 1937.

 Appeared in New York City in 1999.

 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

 Prion
 Also causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
 New-variant CJD in humans related to cattle fed sheep offal for protein.
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
 Invasive group A Streptococcus
 Rapidly growing bacteria cause extensive tissue
damage.
 Increased incidence since 1995

Escherichia coli O157:H7

 Toxin-producing strain of E. coli
 Fist seen in 1982
 Leading cause of diarrhea worldwide.
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
 Ebola hemorrhagic fever
 Ebola virus; causes fever, hemorrhaging, and blood clotting

 First identified near Ebola River, Congo

 Outbreak every few years

 Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

 Hantavirus

 Fist identified in 1951 in Korea as cause of hemorrhagic fever

and named for Hantaan River

 A new disease involving respiratory symptoms was seen in the

U.S. in 1995
 The U.S. virus, called Hantavirus Sin Nombre virus, probably

came to the U.S. with rats around 1900

Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
 Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
 First identified in 1981.
 Worldwide epidemic infecting 40 million people;
14,000 new infections everyday.
 Sexually transmitted disease affecting males and
females.
 In the U.S., HIV/AIDS in people 13-24 years of
age: 44% are female and 63% are African
American.
Historical Development:
Microbes and Human Disease
 Anthrax
 Bacillus anthracis
 In 1877, Koch proved B. anthracis causes
anthrax.
 Veterinarians and agricultural workers are at risk
of cutaneous anthrax.
 In 2001, dissemination of B. anthracis via mail
infected 22 people.
“Microbiology is like sand; it is blown
about by time and is constantly shifting.”

QUESTIONS?

Identify persons/scientists involved in the

historical development of microbiology and
described their significant contributions.
ASSIGNMENT
Define the following terms:

 Microbiology  Virulence  Bioremediation

 Microorganisms  Infection  Biotechnology
 Bacteria  Invasiveness  Genetically modified
 Fungi  Nosocomial infection bacteria
 Protozoan  Spoilage  Vaccination
 Viruses  Disease  Vaccines
 Pathogen  Microbiota  Chemotherapy
 Opportunistic pathogen  Infectious diseases  Immunity
 Etiologic agent  Mode of transmission  Antimicrobial drugs
 Endospore  Bacteriology  Antibiotics
 Pasteurization  Protozoology  Interferons
 Sterilization  Parasitology  Antigen
 Tyndallization  Sensitivity  Antibody
 Autoclave  Virology  Serotype
 Disinfection  Mycology  Toxin
 Antisepsis  Immunology  Immunodeficiency
 Antiseptic technique  Molecular biology
 Immunocompromised
 Culture  Microbial ecology
 immunosuppression
 Resistance  Genomics
 epidemic
 Susceptibility  Recombinant DNA
technology  endemic
 Pathogenicity
 Genetic engineering  Pandemic
 Carrier
 sporadic
 incidence