Early History of Microbiology
Robert Hooke
Antony van Leeuwenhoek
Marcello Malpighi
1650
1700
Francesco Redi
1750
Lazzaro Spallanzani
1800
History of Microbiology 1800-1900
Franz Schulze
Theodore Schwann
Koch
Pasteur
1800
Jenner
(vaccination)
1825
1850
Enrico Acerbi
Agostino Bassi
(parasitic disease)
Medicine
1875
Lister
(aseptic surgery)
1900
Spontaneous Generation
The idea that complex life (generally animals or plants) can arise
directly from inorganic (non-living) material.
--- originally espoused by early Greek philosophers (Aristotle)
--- became entrenched in European culture during the Dark Ages
Francesco Redi (1688)
One of the first to systematically attack spontaneous generation
cloth & beaker experiments
Lazzaro Spallanzani (1750’s)
Used heat to sterilize beef broth in flasks to show that contact with
unsterilized air was required for mold growth in sterile meat broth
Franz Schulze (1836)
Showed that sterile oxygen was still unable to create life in sterilized
broth
Louis Pasteur (1860’s)
Tapered flask experiments finally lay SP to rest
History of Microbiology
Classical Period 1850-1910
--- Much of the modern foundation of microbiology was developed in
this period
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895):
Finally killed the idea of “spontaneous generation”
Helped to develop more rigorous study of microbiology
Developed a vaccine (treatment) for rabies
Developed the modern idea of steam attenuation
Robert Koch (1843-1910):
Koch’s Postulates (causality between microbes and disease)
Developed “pure culturing” technique
Paul Ehlich:
First use of “antibiotics” (chemical toxins specific to parasites)
Koch’s Postulates
1.) A single, identifiable micro-organism must be present in all
cases of the disease
2.) The putative disease organism can be cultured to a single
pure culture outside the host
3.) When inoculated into a susceptible host the organism causes
symptoms equivalent to the original host
4.) The organism can be isolated from the experimentally inoculated
host
--- Lead to a systematic study of disease mechanism that helped to push
modern medicine forward
--- Today we know that the postulates are NOT universally applicable (but are
still a good place to start)
Martinus Beijerinck:
Contributed to understanding elemental cycling
Microbial communities
Enrichment culturing
Sergei Winogradsky:
discovered chemoautotrophy
Modern Era (1950- present)
--- development of the idea of comparative biochemistry (that all life
relies on a similar set of reduction/ oxidation (redox) reactions) allowed
bacteria to become easily manipulated model systems for the study of
many cellular processes, eventually leading to today’s discipline of
Molecular Biology
Today:
Bacteria have become workhorses of molecular biology for
tasks such as:
DNA Engineering
Protein production
Genetics
Cell Signaling
Synthetic Biology
A Brief Review of Basic Chemistry (Chapter 3)
Fundamental Particles:
Element:
Isotope:
Bonding Interactions (Types)
Isotopic Labeling in Photosynthesis
Hydrogen Bonding
Van der Waals Forces
Hydrophobic Forces
pH scale and Buffers
Biomolecules