Microorganisms
microscopic living organisms
Microbes
Any microscopic organism. Mainly bacteria, protists, some fungi, and even some tiny multi-cellular organisms.
Disease
Caused by a pathogen
Pathogen
An organism that causes disease
Bacteriology
Study of bacteria
Virology
The study of viruses
Protozoology
Study of protozoa
Phycology
Study of algae
Immunology
The study of immunity
Parasitology
Study of parasites
Epidemiology
A branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population
Mycology
Study of fungi
Microbiota
the term for the microbes that are normally present in and on the human body; usually beneficial
Pathogens
Microbes that cause disease
Convex
curved outward
Robert Hooke
The English scientist who first identified cells in living matter (cork) was
Anton Von Leeuwenhoek
developed the earliest form of the microscope and made it popular due to his drawings of "animalcules
Animalcules
Leeuwenhoek called the unicellular microorganisms that he observed
Spontaneous Generation
Hypothesis stating that life could arise from nonliving matter.
Francesco Reddi
Tried to disprove the theory of spontaneous generation. The independent variable in his experiment was types of jar coverings and Dependent variable was the number of flies on the meat.
Lazzaro Spallanzani
1765 boiled in flasks vital force needed for spontaneous generation destroyed by heat
John Needham
claimed that spontaneous generations occurs under the right conditions
Miasma
Bad air
Louis Pasteur
Used his swan necked flasks, finally laid to rest the idea of spontaneous generation (abiogenesis).
Ignaz Semmelweis
demonstrated that washing hands between patients in a maternity ward could reduce the spread of "child-bed fever
Variolation
early chinese approach to introducing immunity to non-exposed individuals
Edward Jenner
British physician who introduced a vaccine to prevent smallpox that involved inoculation using cowpox germs
IRB
Institutional Review Board
John Snow
Epidemiologist (Medical Geography) - control of epidemics link between water supply and cholera - mapped cholera deaths and location of water wells/pumps.
Vaccination
injection of a weakened or mild form of a pathogen to produce immunity
Bacteria
single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission
Jacob Henle
thought that living organisms could cause disease
Fermentation
A splitting of sugar molecules into simpler products. Alcohol, acid, and gas (CO2)
Pasteurization
A process of heating food to a temperature that is high enough to kill most harmful bacteria without changing the taste of the food.
Germs
Pathogens
Germ Theory
the theory that infectious diseases are caused by certain microbes
Joseph Lister
English surgeon who was the first to use antiseptics
Antisepsis
Removing pathogens from living tissue
Robert Koch
The founder of modern bacteriology, he is known for his role in identifying the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax and for giving experimental support for the concept of infectious disease
Bacilli
Rod shaped bacteria
Koch's Postulates
Experimental steps to prove a specific microbe causes a specific disease
Colonies
Collections of autonomously replicating cells.
Agar
a gel-like polysaccharide compound used for culturing microbes; extracted from certain red algae
Broth
A liquid tube containing nutrients to enhance growth
Pure Culture
contains only one species or strain
Fanny Hesse
Who developed the use of agar as a solidifying agent for microbiological media
Julius Petri
invented the double sided Petri dish in 1887 for the culture of microbes
Dimitri Ivanowski
Discovered tobacco mosaic virus in plant extracts. The extracts would cause disease after bacteria were removed
Nitrogen Fixation
Process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia
Cyanobacteria
Bacteria that can carry out photosynthesis
Decomposers
Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms
Archaea
Domain of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls lacking peptidoglycan. Like eukaryotes, DNA contains histone proteins.
Viruses
Pieces of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat
Fungi
A kingdom made up of nongreen, eukaryotic organisms that have no means of movement, reproduce by using spores, and get food by breaking down substances in their surroundings and absorbing the nutrients
Protista
Kingdom composed of eukaryotes that are not classified as plants, animals, or fungi
Prokaryotic
An organism whose cells do not have an enclosed nucleus, such as bacteria.
Eukaryotic
A cell characterized by the presence of a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Eukaryotes can be unicellular (protists) or multicellular (fungi, plants and animals).
Paul Ehrlich
Discovered that certain dyes stained microorganisms but not animal cells, suggesting that the dyes or other chemicals might selectively kill microbial cells. This gave him the idea of a "magic bullet," a chemical that would destroy specific bacteria witho
Chemotherapy
The use of drugs to treat diseases such as cancer
Antibiotic
A chemical secreted by a living organism that kills or reduces the reproduction rate of other organisms
Alexander Flemming
Discovered penicillin
Biotechnology
A form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes.
Classical Golden Age
1854-1914 - Many branches of microbiology are established.
Second Golden Age
1943-1970 -WWI slowed down discovery because there was no more sharing and countries kept to themselves
Third Golden Age
NOW! Fighting antimicrobial resistance, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, bioterrorism, but discovered biofilms, bioremediation, genomics and bioinformatics
Polymicrobial Diseases
diseases caused by two or more microbes acting together in succession
Emerging Infectious Diseases
infectious disease that has newly appeared in the population or that has been known but is rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range
Reemerging Infectious Diseases
diseases that once were major health problems globally or in a particular country, and then declined dramatically, but are again becoming health problems for a significant proportion of the population (malaria and tuberculosis are examples).
Bioterrorism
the use of biological and chemical weapons in terrorist attacks
Antibiotic Resistance
Resistance evolving rapidly in many species of prokaryotes due to overuse of antibiotics, especially in agriculture.
Bioremediation
The use of living organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems