Microbiology Nus

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Francoise Witsell

unread,

Aug 5, 2024, 11:44:49 AM8/5/24

to timasnaca

As a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, the Microbiology Society's Council bears legal responsibilities. The Society also has a number of committees, including Division Committees.

Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefit of everyone.

Microbiome research is a rapidly developing area of science and innovation, seeking to explore and exploit the complex communities of microbes associated with humans, animals, plants and other environments such as soils and oceans.

The Microbiology Society provides funds to support microbiologists and develop microbiology, teaching and research in countries defined as low-income or lower-middle-income economies by the World Bank.

The Microbiology Society will highlight details of any event held by other organisations in the areas of microbiology. If you would like to list an event here, you can submit your details in through our online form.

Microbiology is the study of all living organisms that are too small to be visible with the naked eye. This includes bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa and algae, collectively known as 'microbes'. These microbes play key roles in nutrient cycling, biodegradation/biodeterioration, climate change, food spoilage, the cause and control of disease, and biotechnology. Thanks to their versatility, microbes can be put to work in many ways: making life-saving drugs, the manufacture of biofuels, cleaning up pollution, and producing/processing food and drink.

Microbiologists study microbes, and some of the most important discoveries that have underpinned modern society have resulted from the research of famous microbiologists, such as Jenner and his vaccine against smallpox, Fleming and the discovery of penicillin, Marshall and the identification of the link between Helicobacter pylori infection and stomach ulcers, and zur Hausen, who identified the link between papilloma virus and cervical cancer.

Microbiology research has been, and continues to be, central to meeting many of the current global aspirations and challenges, such as maintaining food, water and energy security for a healthy population on a habitable earth. Microbiology research will also help to answer big questions such as 'how diverse is life on Earth?', and 'does life exist elsewhere in the Universe'?

The Microbiology Society is fundraising for the Unlocking Potential Grant. Our members have a unique depth and breadth of knowledge about microbiology and our role is to help unlock and harness their potential.

Microbiology is the study of the biology of microscopic organisms - viruses, bacteria, algae, fungi, slime molds, and protozoa. The methods used to study and manipulate these minute and mostly unicellular organisms differ from those used in most other biological investigations. Recombinant DNA technology uses microorganisms, particularly bacteria and viruses, to amplify DNA sequences and generate the encoded products. Moving genes from one microorganism to another, or amplifying them within microorganisms, permits application of microbial skills to solve medical and environmental problems. Many microorganisms are unique among living things in their ability to use gaseous nitrogen from the air for their nutritional requirements, or to degrade complex macromolecules in such materials as wood. By rearranging the genes that control these and other processes, scientists seek to engineer microorganisms that will process wastes, fertilize agricultural land, produce desirable biomolecules, and solve other problems inexpensively and safely.

Microbiologists pursue careers in many fields, including agricultural, environmental, food, and industrial microbiology; public health; resource management; basic research; education; and pharmaceuticals. Jobs in all of these fields are available at the BS level as well as the MS and PhD levels (see our guide for applying to graduate schools). The Microbiology major also incorporates the requirements expected for admission to medical, dental, and other health-professional schools, and to graduate schools in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and related disciplines.

The existence of microorganisms was predicted many centuries before they were first observed, for example by the Jains in India and by Marcus Terentius Varro in ancient Rome. The first recorded microscope observation was of the fruiting bodies of moulds, by Robert Hooke in 1666, but the Jesuit priest Athanasius Kircher was likely the first to see microbes, which he mentioned observing in milk and putrid material in 1658. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is considered a father of microbiology as he observed and experimented with microscopic organisms in the 1670s, using simple microscopes of his design. Scientific microbiology developed in the 19th century through the work of Louis Pasteur and in medical microbiology Robert Koch.

Persian scientists hypothesized the existence of microorganisms, such as Avicenna in his book The Canon of Medicine, Ibn Zuhr (also known as Avenzoar) who discovered scabies mites, and Al-Razi who gave the earliest known description of smallpox in his book The Virtuous Life (al-Hawi).[10] The tenth-century Taoist Baoshengjing describes "countless micro organic worms" which resemble vegetable seeds, which prompted Dutch sinologist Kristofer Schipper to claim that "the existence of harmful bacteria was known to the Chinese of the time."[11]

In 1676, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who lived most of his life in Delft, Netherlands, observed bacteria and other microorganisms using a single-lens microscope of his own design.[14][2] He is considered a father of microbiology as he used simple single-lensed microscopes of his own design.[14] While Van Leeuwenhoek is often cited as the first to observe microbes, Robert Hooke made his first recorded microscopic observation, of the fruiting bodies of moulds, in 1665.[15] It has, however, been suggested that a Jesuit priest called Athanasius Kircher was the first to observe microorganisms.[16]

Kircher was among the first to design magic lanterns for projection purposes, and so he was well acquainted with the properties of lenses.[16] He wrote "Concerning the wonderful structure of things in nature, investigated by Microscope" in 1646, stating "who would believe that vinegar and milk abound with an innumerable multitude of worms." He also noted that putrid material is full of innumerable creeping animalcules. He published his Scrutinium Pestis (Examination of the Plague) in 1658, stating correctly that the disease was caused by microbes, though what he saw was most likely red or white blood cells rather than the plague agent itself.[16]

The field of bacteriology (later a subdiscipline of microbiology) was founded in the 19th century by Ferdinand Cohn, a botanist whose studies on algae and photosynthetic bacteria led him to describe several bacteria including Bacillus and Beggiatoa. Cohn was also the first to formulate a scheme for the taxonomic classification of bacteria, and to discover endospores.[17] Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch were contemporaries of Cohn, and are often considered to be the fathers of modern microbiology[16] and medical microbiology, respectively.[18] Pasteur is most famous for his series of experiments designed to disprove the then widely held theory of spontaneous generation, thereby solidifying microbiology's identity as a biological science.[19] One of his students, Adrien Certes, is considered the founder of marine microbiology.[20] Pasteur also designed methods for food preservation (pasteurization) and vaccines against several diseases such as anthrax, fowl cholera and rabies.[2] Koch is best known for his contributions to the germ theory of disease, proving that specific diseases were caused by specific pathogenic microorganisms. He developed a series of criteria that have become known as the Koch's postulates. Koch was one of the first scientists to focus on the isolation of bacteria in pure culture resulting in his description of several novel bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis.[2]

While Pasteur and Koch are often considered the founders of microbiology, their work did not accurately reflect the true diversity of the microbial world because of their exclusive focus on microorganisms having direct medical relevance. It was not until the late 19th century and the work of Martinus Beijerinck and Sergei Winogradsky that the true breadth of microbiology was revealed.[2] Beijerinck made two major contributions to microbiology: the discovery of viruses and the development of enrichment culture techniques.[21] While his work on the tobacco mosaic virus established the basic principles of virology, it was his development of enrichment culturing that had the most immediate impact on microbiology by allowing for the cultivation of a wide range of microbes with wildly different physiologies. Winogradsky was the first to develop the concept of chemolithotrophy and to thereby reveal the essential role played by microorganisms in geochemical processes.[22] He was responsible for the first isolation and description of both nitrifying and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.[2] French-Canadian microbiologist Felix d'Herelle co-discovered bacteriophages in 1917 and was one of the earliest applied microbiologists.[23]

The branches of microbiology can be classified into applied sciences, or divided according to taxonomy, as is the case with bacteriology, mycology, protozoology, virology, phycology, and microbial ecology. There is considerable overlap between the specific branches of microbiology with each other and with other disciplines, and certain aspects of these branches can extend beyond the traditional scope of microbiology[25][26] A pure research branch of microbiology is termed cellular microbiology.