Research Assignment

Mic 101

Issaiah Nicolle L. Cecilia

2 NRS – 1
June 29, 2019
Microbiology
 Microbiology is the study of microorganisms also known as microbes, which are
unicellular or cell-cluster organisms and infectious agents too small to be seen with the
naked eye. This includes eukaryotes (organisms with a nucleus), such as fungi and
protists, and prokaryotes (organisms without a nucleus), such as bacteria. It derives its
name from the union of three Greek words: mikros meaning small, bios meaning life
bearing; and logos meaning study.

Pathogen
Pathogens are microscopic organisms that cause or have the potential to cause
disease. Different types of pathogens include bacteria, viruses, protists (amoeba,
plasmodium, etc.), fungi, parasitic worms (flatworms and roundworms), and prions.
While these pathogens cause a variety of illness ranging from minor to life-threatening,
it is important to note that not all microbes are pathogenic. In fact, the human body
contains thousands of species of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa that are part of its normal
flora.

These microbes are beneficial and important for proper operation of biological
activities such as digestion and immune system function. They only cause problems
when they colonize locations in the body that are typically kept germ-free or when the
immune system is compromised. In contrast, truly pathogenic organisms have a single
goal: survive and multiply at all cost. Pathogens are specially adapted to infect a host,
bypass the host's immune responses, reproduce within the host, and escape its host for
transmission to another host.

Non Pathogen
Nonpathogenic organisms are those that do not cause disease, harm or death to
another organism and is usually used to describe bacteria. It describes a property of a
bacterium - its ability to cause disease. Most bacteria are nonpathogenic. It can
describe the presence of non-disease causing bacteria that normally reside on the
surface of vertebrates and invertebrates as commensals. Some nonpathogenic
microorganisms are commensals on and inside the body of animals and are called
microbiota. Some of these same nonpathogenic microorganisms have the potential of
causing disease, or being pathogenic if they enter the body, multiply and cause
symptoms of infection.
Immunocompromised individuals are especially vulnerable to bacteria that are
typically nonpathogenic but because of a compromised immune system, disease occurs
when these bacteria gain access to the body's interior. Genes have been identified that
predispose disease and infection with nonpathogenic bacteria by a small number of
persons. Nonpathogenic E.coli strains normally found in the gastrointestinal tract have
the ability to stimulate the immune response in humans, though further studies are
needed to determine clinical applications.

Opportunistic Pathogen
Opportunistic pathogens are pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protozoa)
that take advantage of an opportunity not normally available, such as a host with a
weakened immune system, an altered microbiota (such as a disrupted gut microbiota),
or breached integumentary barriers. Many of these pathogens do not cause disease in
a healthy host that has a normal immune system. However, a compromised immune
system, which is seriously debilitated and has lowered resistance to infection, a
penetrating injury, or a lack of competition from normal commensals presents an
opportunity for the pathogen to infect.

Infectious diseases vs. Microbial intoxications

Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by the spread of microorganisms
(bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites) or prions to humans from directly or indirectly, from
one person to another, animals or the environment, including food and water. It result
when a pathogen inhabits the body and subsequently causes disease. Meanwhile,
microbial intoxications result when a person ingests a toxin or poisonous substance that
has been produced by a pathogen outside the body.

Abiogenesis vs. biogenesis

Abiogenesis is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter such as
simple organic compounds. In here, scientific hypotheses about the origins of life can be
divided into three main stages: the geophysical, the chemical and the biological. Many
approaches investigate how self-replicating molecules or their components came into
existence. On the assumption that life originated spontaneously on Earth, the Miller–
Urey experiment and similar experiments demonstrated that most amino acids, basic
chemicals of life, can be racemically synthesized in conditions which were intended to
be similar to those of the early Earth. Several mechanisms have been investigated,
including lightning and radiation. Other approaches (“metabolism first” hypotheses)
focus on understanding how catalysis in chemical systems in the early Earth might have
provided the precursor molecules necessary for self-replication.
Biogenesis is any process by which lifeforms produce other lifeforms. For
example, a spider lays eggs that become other spiders. This premise historically
contrasted with the ancient belief in spontaneous generation, which held that certain
inorganic substances, left alone, give rise to life (such as bacteria, mice and maggots) in
a matter of days. The premise of biogenesis had been suspected long before being
definitively demonstrated. A demonstrative experiment, which showed biogenesis right
down to the bacterial level, was devised by Louis Pasteur in 1859.

Contributions of Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur and Koch of

mibrobiology
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) was one of the first people to observe
microorganisms, using a microscope of his own design, and made one of the most
important contributions to biology. Robert Hooke was the first to use a microscope to
observe living things. Hooke’s 1665 book, Micrographia, contained descriptions of plant
cells. Before Van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of microorganisms in 1675, it had been a
mystery why grapes could be turned into wine, milk into cheese, or why food would
spoil. Van Leeuwenhoek did not make the connection between these processes and
microorganisms, but using a microscope, he did establish that there were forms of life
that were not visible to the naked eye. Van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery, along with
subsequent observations by Spallanzani and Pasteur, ended the long-held belief that
life spontaneously appeared from non-living substances during the process of spoilage.

Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) expanded upon Spallanzani’s findings by exposing

boiled broths to the air in vessels that contained a filter to prevent all particles from
passing through to the growth medium. He also did this in vessels with no filter at all,
with air being admitted via a curved tube that prevented dust particles from coming in
contact with the broth. By boiling the broth beforehand, Pasteur ensured that no
microorganisms survived within the broths at the beginning of his experiment. Nothing
grew in the broths in the course of Pasteur’s experiment. This meant that the living
organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on dust, rather than
spontaneously generated within the broth. Thus, Pasteur dealt the death blow to the
theory of spontaneous generation and supported germ theory instead.

In 1876, Robert Koch (1843–1910) established that microbes can cause

disease. He found that the blood of cattle who were infected with anthrax always had
large numbers of Bacillus anthracis. Koch found that he could transmit anthrax from one
animal to another by taking a small sample of blood from the infected animal and
injecting it into a healthy one, and this caused the healthy animal to become sick. He
also found that he could grow the bacteria in a nutrient broth, then inject it into a healthy
animal, and cause illness. Based on these experiments, he devised criteria for
establishing a causal link between a microbe and a disease and these are now known
as Koch’s postulates. Although these postulates cannot be applied in all cases, they do
retain historical importance to the development of scientific thought and are still being
used today.

Germ theory of disease

Germ theory of disease is based on the concept that many diseases are caused
by infections with microorganisms, typically only visualized under high magnification.
Such microorganisms can consist of bacterial, viral, fungal, or protist species. Although
the growth and productive replication of microorganisms are the cause of disease,
environmental and genetic factors may predispose a host or influence the severity of the
infection. It was proposed in the mid-16th century and gained popular acceptance
through the work of many scientists during the 17th through 19th centuries. The germ
theory has saved countless lives and impacted the way we live our lives today. It is also
having an impact on how our lives will be lived in the future.

Koch’s Postulates
In 1890 the German physician and bacteriologist Robert Koch set out his
celebrated criteria for judging whether a given bacteria is the cause of a given disease.
Koch's criteria brought some much-needed scientific clarity to what was then a very
confused field.
Koch's postulates are: the microorganism must be found in abundance in all
organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be found in healthy organisms, the
microorganism must be isolated from a diseased organism and grown in pure culture,
the cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy
organism and the microorganism must be reisolated from the inoculated, diseased
experimental host and identified as being identical to the original specific causative
agent.
However, Koch's postulates have their limitations and so may not always be the
last word. They may not hold if the particular bacteria such as the one that
causes leprosy cannot be "grown in pure culture" in the laboratory and when there is no
animal model of infection with that particular bacteria. Despite such limitations, Koch's
postulates are still a useful benchmark in judging whether there is a cause-and-effect
relationship between a bacteria (or any other type of microorganism) and a clinical
disease.

Medically related fields in Microbiology

 Medicinal chemist
o Medicinal Chemist plays a vital role in the process of drug discovery, helping to
create new and more effective medicines. Using a range of chemistry
techniques, primarily synthetic organic chemistry and data analysis tools, they
design and create new pharmaceutically active molecules to combat a particular
disease or condition. They also work closely with other scientists within a project
team to understand and interpret biological testing of the compounds that you've
created to see if they're effective. Then, they analyze the results of these tests to
identify how the molecule could be improved until there's sufficient evidence that
it works and is safe for testing in people.

 Pharmacologists
o Pharmacologists aim to understand how medicines and other drugs work so they
can be used effectively and safely. They also conduct research to aid drug
discovery and development. The work involves investigating how drugs interact
with biological systems. As a pharmacologist, they could be carrying out in vitro
research (using cells or animal tissues) or in vivo research (using whole animals)
to predict what effect certain drugs might have on humans.
o They can also discover new and better medicines, improve the effectiveness and
safety of current medicines, understand how and why people react differently to
different drugs and find out why some drugs cause addiction or unwanted side-
effects.