Microbiology was
established in 1674 when for the first time Antoni van Leeuwenhoek could see
the world of very tiny creatures in one drop of lake water under his glass
lens. When scientists found these living creatures that could not be seen by
the naked eye, they called them microbes. These Microorganisms include
bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Microbiology is the study of
microorganisms. There are three main branches in microbiology, namely medical
(clinical), industrial and environmental microbiology. The discovery of
antibiotics was one of the most important eras in microbiology history, which
started in 1928 with Professor Alexander Fleming's discovery.
Medical microbiology consists of two parts,
medicine and microbiology, dealing with the study of microorganisms that cause
infectious diseases in human beings. It includes the study of epidemiology,
prevention, pathology and the treatment of infectious agents. A medical
microbiologist should be experienced enough in these fields to help the patients
with infectious diseases to be treated efficiently based on reliable and proper
lab tests for the recognition of the pathogenic organism. Over the last several
years there have been very impressive improvements in the fields of controlling
and preventing some of the most important infectious diseases through antibiotics
and vaccines. The discovery of antibiotic-producing organisms was one of the
most important in microbiological history by Professor Alexander Fleming in
1928. We should also thank microbiologist for their efforts in controlling and
in some instants eradicating deadly and debilitating diseases such as mumps,
chicken pox, small pox, measles, polio and tuberculosis. However, this science
can also act as a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, bioterrorism is one of the
fields in which microbiology has been misused to kill people in war.
