Chapter 1

Microbiology
• The study of of organisms too small to be seen without
magnification
• bacteria
• viruses
• fungi
• protozoa
• helminths (worms)
• algae

3
Branches of study within microbiology
• Immunology
• Public health microbiology & epidemiology
• Food, dairy and aquatic microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Genetic engineering & recombinant DNA technology

4
Microbes are involved in
• nutrient production & energy flow
• decomposition
• production of foods, drugs & vaccines
• bioremediation
• causing disease

5
Impact of pathogens

• Nearly 2,000 different microbes cause diseases

• 10 B infections/year worldwide
• 13 M deaths from infections/year worldwide

6
7
Characteristics of microbes

8
9
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

• First to observe living

microbes
• his single-lens
magnified up to 300X

(1632-1723)
10
11
Scientific Method
• Form a hypothesis - a tentative explanation that can be supported or
refuted by observation & experimentation
• A lengthy process of experimentation, analysis & testing either
supports or refutes the hypothesis.
• Results must be published & repeated by other investigators.

12
• If hypothesis is supported by a growing body of evidence & survives
rigorous scrutiny, it moves to the next level of confidence - it becomes
a theory
• Evidence of a theory is so compelling that the next level of confidence
is reached - it becomes a Law or principle

13