History of Microbiology

Dr. L.A. Namkinga

Department of Microbiology & Immunology,
UDSM-Mbeya College of Medicine
 The Science of Microbiology:
Introduction
• Microbiology is the study of microorganisms,
a large and diverse group of microscopic
organisms that exist as single cells or cell
clusters; it also includes viruses, which are
microscopic but not cellular.
• Microorganisms have a tremendous impact on
all life and the physical and chemical make-up
of our planet.
 The Science of Microbiology:
Introduction cont…
• Microbes are responsible for cycling the chemical
elements essential for life, including; C, N, S, H &
O2;more photosynthesis is carried out by microbes
than by green plants.
• It has been estimated that 5 x 1030 microbial cells exist
on earth; excluding cellulose, these cells constitute ~
90% of the biomass of the entire biosphere.
• Humans also have an intimate relationship with
microbes; more than 90% of the cells in our bodies are
microbes.
 Brief History of Microbiology

• Before Pasteur, effective treatments for diseases

were discovered by trial and error, but the cause
of the diseases were unknown.

• The discovery that yeast play a crucial role in

fermentation lead scientist to belief that
microbes might be involved in causing disease.
This idea was known as the Germ Theory of
Disease.
 The Germ Theory of Disease

• 1835: Agostino Bassi showed that a silkworm disease

was caused by a fungus.
• 1865: Pasteur believed that another silkworm disease
was caused by a protozoan.
– Father of Microbiology
• 1840s: Ignaz Semmelwise advocated hand washing to
prevent transmission of puerperal fever from one OB
patient to another.
 The Germ Theory of Disease
• 1860s: Joseph Lister used a chemical disinfectant
(Phenol) to prevent surgical wound infections after
looking at Pasteur’s work showing microbes are in the
air, can spoil food, and cause animal diseases.
– the founder of antiseptic surgery and the use of antiseptics in
health care
– Applies Germ theory to medical procedures
– One of the earliest medical attempts to control infection
 The Germ Theory of Disease

• 1876: Robert Koch proved that a bacterium

causes anthrax and provided the experimental
steps, Koch’s postulates, to prove that a
specific microbe causes a specific disease.
– Firs proof that bacteria cause disease
– Father of Microbiology Laboratory
– Koch’s Postulates
• Koch’s Postulates – a method of
determining the etiologic
(causative) agent of infectious
diseases
1. the suspected etiologic agent
must be found in every case
of the disease and be absent in
healthy hosts
2. the suspected etiologic agent
must be isolated in pure
culture and identified
3. the suspected etiologic agent
is inoculated into a healthy,
susceptible host and that host
must come down with the
same disease
4. the same etiologic agent as in
step 2 must be isolated and
identified in the second
diseased animal
• Koch and his colleagues also contributed other advances
in the microbiology laboratory including:
a) simple staining techniques were developed to see
bacteria
b) the first photographs of bacteria in diseased tissue
were taken
c) the use of steam to sterilize media
d) the use of agar was first used to solidify bacterial
growth media
e) aseptic transfer of bacteria using platinum wires was
first proposed
f) the use of Petri dishes was started
 Road to Vaccination
• With the proof of the Germ Theory of Disease, the
next step in the study of microbiology was to
understand how this information could be used to
prevent disease in clinical settings.

• Edward Jenner tried to find a way to protect people

from smallpox.
– It all started with a milkmaid…
 Vaccination
• 1796: Edward Jenner inoculated an 8 year old
boy with cowpox virus. The boy was then
protected from smallpox.

• The process used by Jenner is known today as

vaccination.
– It is derived from vacca for cow.
• The protection provided by vaccination is called
immunity.
 The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
• After the relationship between organisms and
disease was established, medical microbiologists
focused on the search for substances that could
destroy pathogenic microorganisms without
damaging the organism.

• Treatment with chemicals is chemotherapy.

• Chemotherapeutic agents used to treat infectious

disease can be synthetic drugs or antibiotics.
The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
• 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.

 The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
• 1928: Alexander Fleming
discovered the 1st antibiotic.
• He observed that Penicillium
fungus made an antibiotic,
penicillin, that killed S. aureus.
• The enormous usefulness of
penicillin wasn’t apparent until
the 1940s when Penicillin was
Penicillum chrysogenum tested clinically & mass produced.
 The Birth of Modern Chemotherapy
• Although there have been thousands of
antibiotics & other chemotherapeutic drugs,
some are too toxic for human use.
• Examples: antiviral drugs
– Some interfere with viral reproduction but it would
also affect uninfected cells.
 Modern Developments in
Microbiology

• The discoveries achieved during the Golden

Age of Microbiology lead to new branches of
microbiology including immunology &
virology.
• Bacteriology is the study of bacteria.
– It began with van Leeuwenhoek.
– It also deals with discoveries & roles of
bacteria.
 Modern Developments in
Microbiology

• Mycology is the study of fungi.

– Include medical, agricultural & ecological branches
– Hospital fungal acquired infections have rise <10%.
• 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 and diagnosis.
Modern • Immunology is the study of
immunity.
Developments – Vaccines and interferons are
being investigated to prevent
in Microbiology and cure bacterial & viral
diseases.
• The use of immunology to
identify some bacteria
according to serotypes
(variants within a species)
was proposed by Rebecca
Lancefield in 1933.
– Major advance in immunology.
– Permits rapid identification of
specific pathogenic
Streptococci based on
immunological techniques.

Figure 1.4 (3 of 3)
Modern Developments in Microbiology

• Virology is the study of viruses.

– Originated during the Golden Age of Microbiology
– Dimitri Iwanowski reported that an organism that caused
tobacco mosaic disease was so small that it passed
through filters fine enough to stop all known bacteria.
– Wendell Stanley was able to crystallized viruses
• His work facilitated the study of viral structure and chemistry.
 Modern Developments in
Microbiology
• Recombinant DNA is DNA made from two different sources.
– In the 1960s, Paul Berg inserted animal DNA into bacterial
DNA & the bacteria produced an animal protein.
• Recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering,
involves microbial genetics & molecular biology.
– Microbial genetics = studies the mechanisms by which
microbes inherit traits.
– Molecular biology = how genetic information is carried in
molecules of DNA & how DNA directs the synthesis of
proteins.
Modern Developments in Microbiology

• Using microbes
– George Beadle and Edward Tatum showed that
genes encode a cell’s enzymes (1942).
– Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, & Maclyn McCarty
showed that DNA was the hereditary material
(1944).
– 1946 -Joshua Lederberg and Edward Tatum
discovered that genetic material can be transferred
from one bacterium to another by a process called
conjugation.
Modern Developments in Microbiology

• 1953 - James Watson and Francis Crick

proposed a model for the structure &
replication of DNA.
• Francois Jacob & 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

* The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.