History of Microbiology

History of Microbiology

Introduction

Medical microbiology is a branch of microbiology that deals with the study of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites of medical importance that are capable of causing diseases in humans. It also includes the study of microbial pathogenesis, disease pathology, immunology, and epidemiology of diseases.

Medical microbiology is among the most widely studied branches of Microbiology. It has given mankind a chance to fight the organisms that, at one point of time, were pure nemesis to us. This has also provided an in-depth knowledge and in-detail understanding of the nature of pathogens that cause disease in humans. This field of microbiology has been the precursor to the wide gamut of immunological innovations in the field of medical science. This field not only has helped to develop vaccines against many invading organisms, it has also, in a more holistic way, given mankind a second shot at life. Deadly and debilitating diseases like smallpox, polio, rabies, plague, etc. have been either eradicated or have become treat-able now because of the efforts of scientists and researchers in the field of medical microbiology.

Microbes are the most significant life forms sharing this planet with humans because of their pervasive presence. Depending on their food sources, microbes may have either beneficial roles in maintaining life or undesirable roles in causing human, animal, and plant diseases. These microbes cause frequent and often severe diseases, such as AIDS, chol-era, tuberculosis, rabies, malaria, etc. The ubiquitous pres-ence of microbes in large numbers have given rise to the many mutants, which in part are responsible for emerging diseases such as AIDS, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB).