Microbiology and its scopes

1. INTRODUCTION TO
PHARMACEUTICAL
MICROBIOLOGY
COVID 19
Prof. Pulak Majumder
Dept. of Pharmacognosy
Sri Adichunchanagiri College o

2. Welcome to Microbiology
For Today…
 Introduction to the course.
 Explore the history and
foundation of Pharmaceutical
microbiology.
 Scope of Microbiology

3. • Microbiology is the study of organisms or agents too
small to be seen with naked eyes.
• The word Microbiology was derived from
Greek: mīkros ("small") + bios ("life")
• Branch of science that is concerned primarily
with the biology of microorganisms and
their effects on other living organisms.
e.g., Bacteria, Protozoa, Algae, Fungus and Viruses.
• When microbiological concepts, processes and
techniques are applied to pharmaceutical operations,
called ‘Pharmaceutical microbiology ’.
Introduction

4. • Microorganisms are present everywhere,
as their presence can be marked in geothermal vents in
the ocean depths to the person’s skin.
• They are also present in soil, air and water.
• Production of 50% of Carbon and 90% of Nitrogen
on earth.
• Biodegradation, digestion and production of
vitamins B12.
• Bread, cheese, beer, vaccines and
antibiotics production.

5. History of Microbiology
Ancestors of bacteria were the first life on
Earth.

6. Theory of Spontaneous Generation
• Early belief that some forms of life could arise from
“vital forces” present in nonliving or decomposing
matter, abiogenesis. Or simply, organisms can arise
form non-living matter.
• But this theory was later challenged by many
scientists.

7. Francesco Redi (1626-1697)

8. • John Needham and Lazzaro Spallanzani were still
supporting theory of spontaneous generation by
proving that air carried germs to the culture media.
• Schwann, Friedrich Schroder and von Dusch (1830s)
disproved them by allowing air to enter flask but only
after passing through a heated tube or sterile wool, so
no growth appeared.
• Still some scientists believed in theory of spontaneous
generation.

9. • In 1665, Robert Hooke (Englishman) reported that
living things were composed of little boxes or cells.
• The first microbes were observed
in 1673
• Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1673-1723)
(Dutch) described live microorganisms
that he observed in teeth scrapings, rain
water, and peppercorn infusions.

10. Pasteur’s Experiment
• These assumptions provoked Louis Pasteur (1822-
1895) to settle the matter once and for all.
• He first trapped airborne organisms in cotton, then
showed , that piece of cotton caused microbial growth
when placed in sterile medium. Then he did another
experiment to solve the controversy.
• Considered by many as “ Father of Microbiology”

11. Pasteur’s Experiment….

12. • John Tyndall (1820-1893) – dealt a final blow to
spontaneous generation theory in 1877 by
demonstrating that Omission of dust, no growth of
microorganisms.
• He also provided evidence for heat resistant forms of
bacteria.
• A German botanist Ferdinand Cohn (1828-1898)
discovered existence of bacterial endospores.

13. Demonstrations that microorganisms
cause disease
• The first direct demonstration of the role of bacteria
in causing disease came from the study of anthrax by
German Physician Robert Koch (1843-1910).
• His criteria (is still used) to establish the link between a
microorganism and a particular disease that it cause, is
known as Koch's postulates.

14. Koch’s Postulates
• The causative agent must be present in all affected
organisms but absent in healthy individuals.
• The agent must be capable of being isolated
and cultured in pure form.
• When the cultured agent is introduced to a healthy
organism, the same disease must occur.
• The same causative agent must be isolated again
from the affected host.

15. Koch's Postulates
 used to
prove the cause
of an infectious
disease.
 Sequence of
experimental
steps to relate a
specific microbe
to a specific
disease.

16. The Golden Age of Microbiology
(1857-1914)
• Beginning with Pasteur’s work
• Discoveries included the relationship between
microbes and disease
• Microbes and fermentation
• Immunity
• Anti-microbial drugs

17. • Pasteur showed that microbes are responsible for
fermentation (Germ theory of fermentation).
• Fermentation is the conversation of sugar to alcohol
to make beer and wine.
• Microbial growth is also responsible for
spoilage of food.
• Bacteria that use alcohol and produce acetic acid
spoil wine by turning it to vinegar (acetic acid).

18. Pasteur demonstrated that these
spoilage bacteria could be killed
by heat that was not hot enough to
evaporate the alcohol in wine.
This application of a high heat for
a short time is called
'Pasteurization'.

19. The Germ Theory of Disease
• 1835: Agostino Bassi showed a silkworm
disease was caused by a fungus.
• 1865: Pasteur believed that another silkworm disease
was caused by a protozoan.
• 1840s: Ignaz Semmelwise advocated handwashing
to prevent transmission of puerperal fever from
one OB patient to another.

20. The Germ Theory of Disease….
• 1860s: Joseph Lister used a chemical disinfectant
(Carbolic acid) to prevent surgical wound infections.
• 1876: Robert Koch provided proof that a bacterium
causes anthrax and provided the experimental steps,
• Koch’s postulates, used to prove that a specific
microbe causes a specific disease.
• Koch was a physician and Pasteur’s young rival

21. • A young milkmaid informed the physician Edward
Jenner that she could not get smallpox because she
had already been sick from cowpox.
• 1796: Edward Jenner inoculated a person with
cowpox virus. The person was then protected from
smallpox.
• Called vaccination from vacca for cow
• The protection is called immunity.

22. Chemotherapy – treatment with chemicals
• Chemotherapeutic agents used to treat infectious
disease can be synthetic drugs or antibiotics.
• Antibiotics are chemicals produced by bacteria and
fungi that inhibit or kill other microbes.
• Quinine from tree bark was long used to treat
malaria.
• 1910: Paul Ehrlich developed a synthetic arsenic drug
(magic bullet) salvarsan to treat syphilis.
• 1930s: Sulfonamides were synthesized.

23. • 1928: Alexander Fleming
discovered the first antibiotic.
• He observed that Penicillium
fungus made an antibiotic,
penicillin, that killed S. aureus
(bacteria).
• 1940s: Penicillin was tested
clinically and mass produced.

24. Scope of microbiology ???
• Microbiology has both basic and applied aspects.
• Basic aspects are concerned with biology of
microorganisms includes fields like-
Bacteriology.
Mycology.
Phycology.
Protozoology.
Microbial cytology and physiology.
Microbial genetics.
Molecular biology.
Microbial ecology.
Microbial Taxonomy.

25. Scope of microbiology……
Applied aspects are concerned with practical problems.
These are:
 Disease study.
 Water and waste water treatment.
 Food spoilage and food production.
 Industrial uses of microbes.
 Medical microbiology,
 Immunology,
 Industrial microbiology,
 Agricultural microbiology

27. Thank you
for
listening
B’coz I believe …
Wash your hand regularly…..
Prevention is Better than Medicine.
Be safe.. be at home.