Microbiology Facts

Microbiology Facts
Microbiology is a subfield of biology that concerns itself with the study of unicellular, multicellular, or acellular microscopic organisms. There are even further subfields of microbiology, which allow specialization in the studies of viruses, fungi and algae, parasites, nematodes, and bacteria.
Interesting Microbiology Facts:
Two major branches of microbiology are the studies of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.
Eukaryotes have membrane-bound organelles contained within their cell membranes, and include fungi and protists.
Prokaryotes do not contain these organelles, and include eubacteria and archaebacteria.
Traditional methods of locating and identifying microscopic organisms have often included culture, staining with various reactant stains, and microscopy, including electron microscopy.
Estimates indicate that less than one percent of microorganisms can be identified using those methods.
That leads researchers to use a technique that extracts or locates the DNA or RNA sequences of these organisms in order to identify them.
Microorganisms were actually theorized many hundreds of years before their existence was actually proven.
Writings as early as the sixth century BCE included the belief in the existence of invisible living organisms, predominantly in scriptures from Jainism.
Marcus Terentius Varro of ancient Rome cautioned against building a community too close to a swamp, with his reasoning containing a clear demonstration of harmful microscopic creatures.
As early as the mid-16th century, Italian scientist Girolamo Fracastoro essentially proposed the germ theory of disease as it relates to microscopic organisms that spread epidemic proportions of disease.
The first visual observations of microorganisms through a single-lens microscope were by Anton van Leeuwenhoek of Holland in 1676.
Earlier work by Robert Hooke in 1665 may have been the first recorded observation of microscopic mold spores, but this was unaided by the microscope.
Laboratory study and special equipment developed by Louis Pasteur and others led to a greater understanding of the field of research by the 19th century.
Medical microbiology has grown significantly as a research field from the early discovery of these organisms, with new understandings about microscopic organisms and their relationship to disease being discovered even now.
Viruses were once questioned as having been living microorganisms, as there was question as to whether they were living cellular beings or molecules.
Recent research into prions have led researchers to question whether or not these once-dismissed entities are actually microscopic organisms.
Microbiology's disciplines overlap possibly more than any other field of science. Its fields can be classified through taxonomical means, as well as broken down into pure or applied science.
Microbiology also has fields with practical applications, such as medical microbiology, pharmaceutical, industrial, agricultural, and more.
Each of the various practical fields offers unique benefits to society.


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