BIO 2010 Microbiology - Chapter 1: A Brief History of Microbiology

Flashcards covering the history of microbiology, microbial diversity, key scientific experiments, and modern challenges in infectious disease based on Chapter 1 of BIO 2010.

Environmental Microbiology

The branch of microbiology that examines microbes in ecosystems and their specific roles in nutrient cycling.

Medical Microbiology

A division of microbiology focused on pathogens, the mechanisms of disease, and treatments.

Applied Microbiology

The study of microbiology exploring industrial applications such as fermentation and the production of antibiotics.

Basic Science

The branch of microbiology that investigates fundamental cellular processes.

Endosymbiotic Events

Historical biological occurrences where ancient bacteria became mitochondria and chloroplasts, enabling the evolution of eukaryotic lineages.

Stromatolites

Layered structures formed by ancient cyanobacteria that trapped sediment while performing photosynthesis, providing evidence of life from $3.5$ billion years ago.

Great Oxidation Event

The gradual increase of atmospheric oxygen over billions of years caused by cyanobacteria, which fundamentally transformed Earth's atmosphere to enable aerobic life.

Microbial Dark Matter

A term for the estimated $99.999\%$ of microbial species that remain undiscovered due to the limitations of cultivation techniques.

Microbiome

The collection of approximately $100$ trillion bacterial cells residing within the human body, providing functions like vitamin synthesis and immune system training.

Virome

The collection of approximately $1$ quadrillion viruses (mostly bacteriophages) in the human body that regulate bacterial populations and facilitate gene transfer.

Dysbiosis

Disruptions to microbial communities linked to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, allergies, and depression.

Lactobacillus

A genus of bacteria that maintains vaginal acidity ($pH \text{ ~ } 4$) to prevent the growth of pathogens.

Extremophiles

Organisms that thrive in environments lethal to most life, such as hot springs, the deep ocean floor, or subzero Arctic temperatures.

Thermus aquaticus

A thermophilic bacterium found in hot springs that serves as the source of Taq polymerase used in PCR.

Chemolithoautotrophic Organisms

Organisms in deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems that form food webs independent of sunlight by using reduced compounds like $H_2S$ and $CH_4$.

LUCA

The acronym for the Last Universal Common Ancestor, the organism from which DNA-based genomes evolved according to prebiotic chemistry timelines.

Woese’s Three-Domain Model

A biological classification system based on molecular data that revealed Bacteria and Archaea as fundamentally distinct domains.

Yersinia pestis

The bacterium transmitted through flea bites that caused the Black Death pandemic between $1347$ and $1353$.

Spontaneous Generation

The disproven belief that organisms could arise from non-living matter, a theory endorsed by Aristotle that persisted for over $2,000$ years.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

The scientist who revolutionized microscopy by grinding lenses to achieve $200-300\times$ magnification, first describing bacteria and protozoa starting in $1675$.

Biogenesis

The principle that life originates only from pre-existing life, demonstrated by Francesco Redi's controlled experiments with meat and flies.

Swan-neck Flask Experiment

Louis Pasteur's $1859$ experiment that disproved spontaneous generation by using S-curved necks to trap airborne microbes while allowing air exchange.

Bacteriophages

Viruses discovered by D'Herelle in $1917$ that infect bacteria and are the basis for phage therapy.

Pasteurization

A process of controlled heating (such as HTST at $161^{\circ}F$ for $15$ seconds) that kills pathogens without damaging food quality.

John Snow

The scientist who traced cholera to contaminated water in $1854$, founding the field of epidemiology.

Koch’s Postulates

A series of experimental steps developed by Robert Koch in $1876$ to prove the causation between a specific microbe and a disease.

Edward Jenner

The scientist who established vaccination in the late $18th$ century by using cowpox to provide cross-protective immunity against smallpox.

Attenuated Pathogens

Weakened versions of pathogens discovered by Pasteur that can stimulate immunity without causing the full disease.

Paul Ehrlich

The pioneer of chemotherapy who coined the term "magic bullet" for selective toxicity and treated syphilis with arsenic compounds.

Disease Triad

A model explaining that infectious disease results from interactions between a pathogen, a host, and the environment.

WHO Priority Pathogens

A list of ten highly concerning resistant bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, MRSA, and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Antibiotic Development Crisis

The decline in antibiotic research and development caused by high investment costs (800M \text{-} $1B+) and minimal financial returns despite escalating resistance.