Microbiology
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What is Microbiology?
You are never alone! As much as we think we are or may want to be, we are surrounded, infested and consumed by billions of organisms all around us that we cannot see. Have you ever been sick? Have you ever seen (or tasted!) spoiled milk? How about getting a cut infected? All these phenomenon can be explained by the existence of microbes in our world! Microbes are living organisms that are too small for the human eye to detect. How can we prove that these seemingly invisible life forms exist? Before microscopes it was nearly impossible. People who became sick blamed “bad air” as the culprit. But since Robert Hooke improved on some of the early, crude microscope designs and published his world-famous Microphagia in 1667, scientists have been able to prove, study and experiment on these microbes.
Microbiology is the study of microbes. Whether a microbe is “good” or “bad” is usually determined by its effect on humans. Most people have only heard of the bad microbes. Things like staph infection, malaria, influenza (the “flu”) or ringworm get our attention because they are they are the most noticeable ones! But even though there are many microbes that are actually helpful to humans, we will be focussing on those that are pathogenic, or the ones that can cause disease in humans. There are four main classes of pathogenic microbes we will look at more closely; bateria, fungi, viruses and parasites.
Bacteria are unicellular (single-celled) organisms that usually live in colonies, or groups. Although some bacteria can perform photosynthesis, infections bacteria are heterotrophs and often use other organisms as their home and food source. Bacterial infections usually spread through direct contact with infected surfaces, especially with vulnerable parts of the body like the mouth, eyes or open wounds or sometimes by ingestion. Filtration or heat treatment can kill bacteria before humans come in contact with it. However, once it has inhabited its host it must be treated by antibiotics, natural chemicals that kill the bacteria without killing human tissue. Some common bacterial infections include staph, strep and E. Coli.
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Fungi are a large class of decomposers in the biosphere and are mostly harmless to humans. However, a small group of fungi can be infections and pose a health risk. Fungi are either single celled or multicellular and grow in colonies similarly to bacteria. Fungal infections are spread through spores which can travel through the air. As a result skin surfaces as well as the lungs are at risk of becoming infected. Fungal infections are usually not very serious unless the immune system has been weakened. Treatment for fungal infections are anti-fungal chemicals that are most commonly applied to the infected surface but can also be taken orally or by injection. Some common fungal infections include tinea pedis (athlete’s foot), tinea corporus (ringworm) and candida (yeast).
Although technically viruses are not living, scientists classify them as microbes because of their ability to infect and reproduce. Unlike living organisms, viruses are not made of cells. Instead they are simply composed of a small strand of genetic material (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein shell. Viruses are able to cause so much damage because they invade cells and use their machinery to create more of themselves. When enough virus copies have been made, the host cell will lyse (explode!) and release all the virus copies throughout the host organism. Viruses can be transmitted through direct contact, air, bodily fluids and just about any other way you can imagine. For this reason, viruses pose the largest risk to the global human population. Viruses cannot be treated once they have infected the host but can often be prevented through vaccines, which stimulate the human body to build up a specific defence against certain viruses. Some common viral infections include the flu (influenza), HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and the common cold.
Parasites is the general name for any organism that benefits from another organism while its host is harmed. Many bacteria and fungi can be considered parasites but for this section we will consider parasites that fit neither the bacteria, fungi or viral categories. Other parasites come from groups like algae and protozoa. Parasitic diseases can be contracted in a variety of ways due to the variation in types of parasites. Many times they humans get parasitic infections through ingestion of unclean food or water. Because there are so many types of parasites, treatments vary widely too. Some parasite infections include malaria in humans, which is delivered through a mosquito bite or toxoplasmosis which infect rats and draw them to cats. A death sentence for sure!
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Microbe Jigsaw
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Pandemic 2 (game)
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