Key Microbiological Milestones

Key Microbiological Milestones

1. First Microscope

   • Created by Anthony van Leeuwenhoek in 1676
   • Was Monocular, could magnify specimens up to 50 times

2. Spontaneous Generation

   • The belief that living organisms could develop from non-living matter
   • Challenged by Redi
     • Placed meat into 3 different jars
       • Completely Covered
         • Nothing Formed
       • Left Open
         • Flies flew in and laied eggs on the meat
       • Covered with a gauze
         • Maggots came to the gauze
           • Was concluded that air is critical, it had a 'life force'
     • Furthered by Louis Pasteur
       • Used a series of handmade flasks
         • Positive Control
           • Left Open
             • Contamination occured
         • Negative Control
           • Sealed completey
             • No contamination
         • Test Flask
           • Was left open BUT was Swan-necked
             • Stayed fresh as microbes got trapped in the swan-neck

3. Pioneers

   • Edward Jenner
     • Smallpox
       • Cowpox had similar anti-bodies so being exposed to Cowpox made you become immune
   • Joseph Lister
     • Introduced anaesthesia and asepsis
       • Asepsis is working without infection
     • Antiseptic Surgery
       • Created the Carbolic Acid Spray
         • By product of the coal industry, was very irritating and corrosive
   • Robert Koch
     • Identified Anthrax disease cycle
       • Used in biowarfare
     • Identified organisms that cause tuberculosis
     • Formulated the "Koch's Postulates"
       • Describes a set of basic procedures used to show that a specific micro-organism causes a particular disease
         • Links the cause and effect of a disease and emphasises the importance of the lab cultures
   • Alexander Fleming
     • Penicillin
   • Jonas Salk
     • Polio Vaccine
   • Watson and Crick
     • Structure of DNA