Week 1 - BIOS 350

Spontaneous Generation

the concept that life/living beings can come from non-living matter

What is pneuma?

the concept that moving air is required to sustain life

Miasma Theory

the idea that contaminated air from rotting organic matter causes illness

Germ Theory

the concept that microorganisms cause disease

Ignaz Semmelweis & Germ Theory

Semmelweis advocated for antiseptics, hand washing, and introduced these practices into obstetrics, reducing the mortality rate by 95%.

Joseph Lister & Germ Theory

advanced the antiseptics practices specifically in surgery, using phenol antiseptic.

Louis Pasteur & Germ Theory

conducted his flask and neck experiments to disprove spontaneous generation theory, pneuma, and miasma. theorized germ theory officially.

Robert Koch & Germ Theory

worked on the cattle disease Anthrax, was able to successfully isolate the bacteria causing the disease, proved that bacteria caused the disease

Negative Control

receives no treatment and nothing will happen to it. if anything happens to it it is due to external factors.

Positive Control

receives a treatment that will yield a known result. used to test the validity of the experimental factor

Koch’s Postulates

1. Association: the microorganism must be present in sick organisms but not present in healthy organisms

2. Isolation: must be able to be isolated from the diseased organism and grown in a pure culture

3. Inoculation: if the microorganism is isolated and injected into a healthy organism, it must cause the same disease

4. Re-Isolation: the microorganism must be reisolated from the infected host and identified as identical to the original microorganism

Pasteur’s Flask Experiment

Pasteur proved spontaneous generation theory wrong as the flask that was exposed to air grew bacteria, refuting the idea that life comes from nonliving things.

Structure of Prokaryotes

has a simple structure with a plasma membrane, genetic material floating around, does not have membrane bound organelles.

Structure of Eukaryotes

has a complex structure with a nucleus, and the organelles are membrane bound.

Structure of Viruses

not a cellular being (acellular), only contains genetic material

How do prokaryotes reproduce?

with circular genetic material, they reproduce via binary fission, allowing them to reproduce in large amounts in small amounts of time

How do eukaryotes reproduce?

has linear genetic material inside of a nucleus, reproduces via mitosis and meiosis

How do viruses reproduce?

they require a host’s cell and hijack the host cell to produce more viral particles

E.Coli is an example of a

prokaryote

Plants, yeast, and animals are examples of

eukaryotes

Influenza, HIV, and Hepatitis C are examples of

viruses

Why are prokaryotes important?

they have significant roles in ecosystems (as decomposers)

Why are eukaryotes important?

they form the basis of multicellular life, food chains, and human existance.

Why are viruses important?

they have a significant influence on human health, gene therapy, and biotechnology

Cocci Bacteria are

round in shape

Bacilli Bacteria are

shaped like rods

Spirillum Bacteria are

shaped like spirals

Coccus

Diplococci

Staphylococci

Streptococci

Bacillus

Diplobacilli

Streptobacilli

Spirillum

What is resolution in a microscope?

how clear the lens can make the object

What is magnification in a microscope?

the ability of the lens to enlarge the object

What was the outcome of John Needham’s experiments with broth?

He supported spontaneous generation by observing microbial growth in boiled broths