HISTORY OF MICROBIOLOGY
- Although microbes were the first life forms to occupy the planet earth, the knowledge about microbiology is well developed with new dimension only after the invention of microscopes and contribution of knowledge to the field of microbiology from various scientists.
Contributions of Antony Van Leeuwenhoek
- He was Dutch Philosopher, born on 24 October 1632.
- He is regarded as Father of “Bacteriology” and “Protozoology”, because of his contribution to the field of bacteria and protozoa.
- He invented simple microscope having magnification power up to 300X.
- Leeuwenhoek is known to have made over 500 “microscopes,” of which fewer than ten have survived to the present day.
- He observed bacteria from his teeth scrap under the microscope invented by him and he named them as “animalcules”.
- He also discovered bacteria in rain water ditch and protozoans like paramecium and amoeba.
- He presented all his observations with illustration before scientist organization “Royal Society of London” in 1683.
Contributions of Louis Pasteur
- He was a French Biochemist, born on 27 December 1822.
- He is regarded as “Father of Microbiology and Immunology”.
- He proposed the “Theory of Germ Disease”, where diseases of plants, viruses, animals and human beings are caused by pathogenic microbes.
- He disproved the theory of abiogenesis by conducting “Swan neck flask experiment”.
- He discovered the presence of bacteria in the air and classified the bacteria into aerobic and anaerobic forms.
- He coined the term “microbiology”.
- He discovered the role of anaerobic microbes in the fermentation of sugar.
- He developed technique to prevent souring of milk and spoilage of wine. His technique is now called Pasteurization technique.
- He first isolated bacteria causing cholera (Vibrio cholerae).
- He developed technique to strengthen immunity against anthrax bacteria by injecting weakened anthrax bacteria to healthy animal.
- Pasteur demonstrated a disease of silkworm was due to a protozoan parasite.
Contributions of Robert Koch
- He was a German microbiologist born on 11 December 1843.
- His contribution to the field of microbiology and medical science is the most valuable one.
- He developed for the first time culture technique to culture the bacteria in the laboratory.
- He discovered bacteria caused tuberculosis of man.
- He developed for the first time staining technique to stain the bacteria with acidic or basic stain.
- He isolated and identified different kinds of bacteria from various sample.
- He proved theory of germ diseases of Louis Pasteur by conducting investigative experiment.
- He was awarded Nobel Prize of medicine in 1905, formulating principles regarding diseases.
- These are now called “Koch Postulates”. Some of them are:-
a. Specific pathogenic microbe causes one specific disease not more than one type of diseases in plants, animals and human beings.
b. Specific pathogenic microbes can be isolate from diseased organism and cultured outside the diseased organism.
Contributions of Alexander Fleming
- He was a Scotland doctor and biochemist born in 1881.
- He contributed knowledge about antibiotic Penicillin for this kind of work.
- He was awarded Nobel Prize in 1945.
- His contributions to the field of microbiology can be summarized as below.
- He studied bacterial action in blood and their response to the antibiotic.
- He worked on antimicrobial substances. That is not toxic to human body but toxic to microbial body.
- He discovered bacteriolytic substance lysosome in the animal tissue.
- He developed technic to study sensitivity of the microbes to the antibiotic drugs.
