What is microbiology?
The study of microbes.
What are microbes?
Small organisms that usually cannot be seen without a microscope.
Why are microbes important? (List 7)
1.Decomposers 2.Bioremediation 3.Food production 4. Antibiotics
5.Gene Therapy
6.Protect us from disease 7.Cause disease
What is the scientific method? (List 3)
1. A basic protocol for problem solving. 2. Foundation for discovery
and investigation.
3. Objective and rational investigation of phenomena.
What are the steps of the scientific method? (6)
1. Observation 2. Question 3. Hypothesis 4. Experiment (experimental
variable and control
group) 5. Results 6. Conclusion
What is Leeuwenhoek known for?
Advancing the understanding of the microbial world. First credited to
seeing microbes.
Do prokaryotes have a nucleus?
No, prokaryotes lack a nucleus.
Do eukaryotes have a nucleus?
Eukaryotes possess a membrane bound nucleus.
What are the 2 types of prokaryotes?
Bacteria and Archaea.
What are the 3 types of Eukaryotes?
Fungi, Protozoa and Helminths.
What is biogenesis?
Animals come from other animals.
What is fermentation?
Formation of alcohol from sugar, formation of lactic acid,
putrefaction of meat, decomposition of waste.
What is pasteurization?
Process of heating liquid just enough to kill most contaminating
bacteria without changing the quality of the liquid.
-Pasteur used to prevent spoilage of wine
-Still used today with milk, juice, and other beverages
What is Pasteur known for?
Finding the cause of fermentation, pasteurization, developing the
Germ Theory of Disease
What is the Germ theory of disease?
The idea that microorganisms are responsible for diseases.
What is Semmelweis known for?
Making medical students wash their hands in between delivering babies
and doing autopsies, death rates dropped significantly.
What is Lister known for?
First to use chemical antiseptics- applied Pasteur's work on germ
theory of disease to try and prevent infection of wounds. Advanced the
idea of antisepsis and disinfection.
What is Koch's Postulates?
Set of steps that must be followed to determine the cause of an
infectious disease.
1.Finding the causative (etiologic) agent, must be found in every
case. 2.Isolate the etiologic agent and grow using culture. 3.
Introduce agent to healthy individual- individual becomes sick.
4.Culture etiologic agent from experimental individual and it must be
the same as original agent.
What is gram staining?
Sequential application of different stains (different staining) to
differentiate groups of bacteria based on their cell wall composition.
Gram positive
Thick peptidoglycan
Purple cells following gram stain
Gram negative
Thin peptidoglycan
Thick lipopolysaccharide
Pink cells following gram stain
What is Jenner known for?
First use of vaccination/immunizations. Give person weakened/lesser
strain of disease, helps them fight bigger disease.
** Weakened or lesser strains of microbes stimulate a long-lasting
immune response by the body's immune system, protecting the patient
from future infection by the same pathogen.
What is Fleming known for?
Discovery of the first antibiotic. Penicillin.
What is Snow known for?
Studied cholera and discovered the source of infections, a single
water pump.
What is Nightingale known for?
Introducing cleanliness and other aseptic techniques into nursing.
Showed poor food and unsanitary conditions lead to deaths of many
soldiers in military hospitals.