history of microbiology

14. Germ theory of disease
Louis Pasteur postulated the germ theory of diseases,
which states that microorganisms are the causes of
infectious disease.
Pasteur’s attempts to prove the germ theory were
unsuccessful.
However, the German scientist Robert Koch provided the
proof by cultivating anthrax bacteria apart from any other
type of organisms.
Used criteria developed by his teacher Jacob Henle (1809-
1895) and these criteria are known as Koch’s postulates
Koch’s postulates – to prove that a specific microbe causes
a specific disease.

20. LOUIS PASTEUR
The term “ Microbiology”, as the study of living organisms of microscopic size,
was coined by Pasteur.
He also coined the term “ Vaccine”.
In 1860-61, he provided strong evidence to disapprove the theory of
spontaneous generation.
In 1863-65, he developed the process of destroying bacteria, known as
pasteurization.
In, 1880, he first successfully cultured Staphylococci in liquid medium and
produced abscesses by inoculating them into rabbits.
In, 1881, he developed live attenuated anthrax vaccine.
In, 1881, pneumococci were first noticed by Pasteur and Sternberg
independently.
Pasteur’s crowing achievement was the successful application of the principle of
vaccination to the prevention of rabies, or hydrophobia, in human beings and
the development of rabies vaccine in 1885.
In, 1887, Pasteur and Joubert first described Clostridium septicum and call it
Vibrion septique.

22. Robert Koch- (1843- 1910)
 A bacteriologist second only to Louis Pasteur and popularly called the
“Founder of Microbial Techniques”.
 In 1876, Robert Koch successfully isolated Bacillus anthrax in pure culture,
studied the formation and germination of its spores, and provided the proof of
its infectiousness. This agent as the sole cause of anthrax was confirmed by
Pasteur.
In 1877, he introduced the method of making smears of bacteria on glass
slides, and of staining them with the aniline dyes. He was also the first to
employ in bacteriological work the improved compound microscope.
 In 1882, Koch surprised the world by announcing his discovery of tubercle
Bacillus (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), the causative agent of tuberculosis. He
described a special staining method for detection of this organism and grew it
in pure cultures in the laboratory.
He invented the hot air oven and steam sterilizer, basic tools in any
microbiology laboratory. He developed methods for testing antiseptics and to
distinguish between bacteriostatic and bactericidal concentrations.

23. DISCOVERY OF CAUSATIVE ORGANISMS

25. Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley in 1749. He completed his
training with the great surgeon John Hunter in London.
He introduced the modern method of vaccination to prevent
smallpox.
He performed a vaccination against smallpox by transferring
material from a cowpox pustule on the hand of a milkmaid, Sarah
Nelmes, to the arm of small boy named James Phipps, his gardener’s
son. Six week later the boy was inoculated with smallpox. He failed to
develop the disease.
Edward Jenner’s discovery has now been developed into one of the
most important parts of modern medicine- Immunology. This science
helps us to treat many infectious diseases and to understand
transplantation, allergies and diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
and AIDS.

26. Martinus W. Beijerinck (1851-1931)
Martinus W. Beijerinck was a professor at the Delft Poly-technique School (Holland) in his
later years, but was originally trained in Botany and began his carrier in Microbiology studying
the microbiology of plants.
Beijernck’s greatest contribution to the field of microbiology and give concept of the
Enrichment culture.
In Enrich culture technique, he proposed selecting specific micro-organisms from a natural
sample through the use of specific culture media and inoculation conditions that favoured
growth of only one type or a physiologically related group of microorganisms.
Using his enrichment culture technique, Beijernck isolated the first pure culture of many soil
and aquatic micro-organisms, including aerobic nitrogen fixing bacteria (Azotobacter),
nitrogen fixing root nodule bacteria (later named Rhizobium), sulphate-reducing and sulphur-
oxidizing bacteria, Lactobacillus species, green algae and many other microorganisms.
Beijernck described the basic tenets of virology and in rightly called by many as the “founder
of virology”.
In 1898, he confirmed tobacco mosaic disease (through selective filteration techniques) was
caused not by any pathogenic bacteria or toxin secreted by bacteria but by some new type of
pathogenic agents, which he called “contagium vivum fluidum” (infection living fluid) and
referred as a “virus”

27. Sergei N. Winogradsky (1856-1953)
Sergei N. Winogradsky, a Russian microbiologist, made many contributions to
soil microbiology and is rightly called the founder of soil microbiology.
The major contributions of Winogradsky to the field of microbiology are the
following:
1. Winogradsky isolated pure cultures of nitrifying bacteria and clearly
demonstrated that the process of nitrification (oxidation of ammonia to
nitrate) was the result of bacteria action.
2. He studied in 1887 the oxidation of H2S by sulphur oxidizing bacteria directly
in their natural habitats.
3. Winogradsky developed concept of chemolithotrophy, the oxidation of
inorganic compounds resulting in the release of energy.
4. Winogradsky isolated in 1893 the fist nitrogen fixing bacterium (the anaerobe
Clostridium pasteurianum) using enrichment culture technique and by so
doing developed the concept of bacterial nitrogen fixation.

28. Dimitri Ivanovski
Ivanovski repeated the experiment and first successfully
experimentally demonstrated that the tobacco mosaic disease has
been caused by agents which successfully passed the Chamberland-
porcelain filter that retains even the smallest bacteria

34. Brief outline of the microbiological history

35. Some Important Events in the Development of Microbiology 1546-1867). Milestones in microbiology are
marked in red; other historical events are in black

36. Some Important Events in the Development of Microbiology 1867- 1899). Milestones in microbiology are
marked in red; other historical events are in black

37. Some Important Events in the Development of Microbiology 1900- 1931). Milestones in microbiology are
marked in red; other historical events are in black

38. Some Important Events in the Development of Microbiology (1931-1980). Milestones in microbiology are
marked in red; other historical events are in black

39. Some Important Events in the Development of Microbiology (1981-2005). Milestones in microbiology are
marked in red; other historical events are in black