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MICROBIOLOGY
THE PIONEERS OF MICROBIOLOGY

YEAR 2
BSC HONOURS PROGRAMME

Contents
Robert Hooke
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2
Ferdinand Cohn
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3
Robert Koch
...
At the
age of 18, Hooke continued his studies at the University of Oxford’s Christ Church College
and Wadham College, having been appointed a Curator of Experiments by the Royal
College at age 27
...

Hooke’s designs contained a screw-operated focusing mechanism and a specimenilluminating mechanism which functioned by placing a water-based lens beside the
microscope, allowing light produced from oil lamps to be redirected onto the specimen
slide
...


Figure 2
...
(b)
The fruiting structure of blue moulds described as “microscopical mushrooms”
...


Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was one of the pioneers of microbiology and
microscopy, hence he is known as ‘The Father of Microbiology’
...
His interest in lens making resulted in the fabrication of microscopes with
various magnifications achieved by the orderly assembly of various lens sizes
...

Figure 2
...
His
early research revolved around botanic microscopy and plant physiology in which he studied the sexual reproduction of
plant cells and researched the sexuality of the green algae Sphaeroplea & Volvox globator
...
Cohn was the first to class algae as
plants and introduce the morphological classifications of bacteria (cocci, bacilli, filamentous, spirals)
...


2|P age

Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French microbiologist, immunologist and chemist renown for many scientific
breakthroughs
...

Pasteur’s work on molecular asymmetry was performed in his early chemist career when he analysed tartrates, specifically
tartaric acid, and discovered the chemistry of optical isomers and non-superimposable chiral compounds
...
Conclusively, living organisms
discriminate between optical isomers
...
This was discovered when M
...
Pasteur demonstrated that the sourness of the beverages was caused by microorganisms
which promoted spoilage and he pioneered the process of pasteurization – heating liquids to temperatures between
60-100°C to kill bacteria and moulds already present within them
...
Pouchet’s
proposal was that organisms spontaneously grow
inside liquids due to the pure nature of air – an
idea highly contradictory to Louis Pasteur’s
...
The idea was that microorganisms would
not grow unless they were introduced by particles
in the air entering the broth
...
3: Swan-neck flask experiment used in disproving the theory of
spontaneous generation
...
He managed to create a vaccine against chicken cholera
after observing that bacterial cultures left unattended for 1 month had only caused mild symptoms in healthy chickens as
opposed to causing fatalities
...

The same immunisation method was applied to treat cattle anthrax
...
The cattle were being infected with anthrax on what became known
as a ‘cursed field’
...
This hypothesis was approved once Pasteur discovered b
...

He artificially weakened the bacteria by allowing it to grow at 42°C, this prevented the bacteria from forming endospores
thus making more susceptible to the immune system
...


3|P age

Robert Koch
Robert Kock (1843-1910) was a German physician and microbiologist, having excelled in sciences and mathematics from a
very young age
...

Koch is famous for his research and ability to isolate pure bacterial cultures
...

Koch worked with anthrax in attempt to determine a link between infectious diseases and pathogenic causative agents
...
This also
disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and backed up the germ theory of disease
...

Whilst appointed as the government advisor for the Imperial Department of Health (IDH), Koch’s interests revolved around
tuberculosis (TB) which he believed to be caused by a pathogen
...
His attempt at pioneering tuberculin, a drug against TB, sparked scandals because Koch refused to provide the
formula and method for its preparation
...

The same procedure was applied in identifying the causative agent of cholera
...
Koch determined that
Vibrio cholerae was the pathogenic, infectious agent
...
4: Koch’s postulates, developed after his research on Bacillus anthracis

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