Question

PLEASE TYPE YOUR ANSWER

Imagin you are a student who took microbiology in a semester. how you explain that What did you learn from your microbiology experiences in this semester that will continue to influence you for many years to come? How did you learn these things?

Using specific examples for your statement Such as PPE, Gram stain, HMB, sensitive to penicillin, etc.

Answer 1

Microbiology is the scientific study of of microorganisms . Microorganisms are extremely small, microscopic structures which cannot be seen by the naked eye. There are 4 groups of microrganisms , namely-- bacteria, fungi , algae and protozoa . Viruses are not included in microbes , rather they are called particles because they behave as living beings only when inside a living cell.

Despite their bad reputation, microbes are mostly beneficial or neutral for us. Very few microbes are harmful i.e they might cause diseases or cause spoilage of food or other items.

The first thing I learnt from my experience in studying microbiology is that the scope in this field is limitless. We can manipulate these tiny creatures to our benefit in several ways, be it in the food industry, brewery industry , for decomposing organic wastes, for producing medicines, antibiotics , vaccines , for gene splicing and editing and what not. The role microorganisms play in our lives is inseparable from our day to day activities.

Pure microbiology consists of 4 branches -- 1] Bacteriology

2] Mycology [ study of fungi]

3] Protozoology [ study of protozoa ]

4] Phycology/ algology [ study of algae ]

Virology i.e study of viruses is not included in this because it is not a proper cell.

Of all the microbes, protozoa and viruses are the most dangerous because they do not benefit us in any way and only cause diseases. Bacteria are more useful than the harms they cause and algae do not harm us in any way.

It is amazing how microorganisms influience our lives. I found this aspect of my course the most influencing -- the way the presence of microbes affect our life.

In the course , we had to perform several lab activities which involved working with live microbes. During that time it was essential to protect oneself from coming in contact with the microbes and the chemicals used in the activities. At this time PPE or Personal protective equipments are essential . As a precautionary measure, our lab instructor advised us to wear clothes which covered the body properly, use gloves while handling chemicals or live microbes, fll feet covering shoes , labcoats and be otherwise, very careful while carrying out the experiments.

Host microbe interaction is another field in microbiology which is very intriguing and open to much research. Why does a specific antigen cause disease in a particular organism only? Why some microbes need two hosts to complete their life cycle and what are the reasons that they cause diseases in plants and animals. Diseases which can become fatal and cause death of the infected organism.

It was particularly interesting to know how Alexander flemming accidently discovered penicillin which revolutionised the way diseases were treated in those days. It was a breakthrough discovry and there was no looking back after this in the treatment of bacterial diseases.

Ilearnt that bacteria could be distinguished not only on their shape but also on one unique feature , that is staining by the Gram stain. Christian Gram first invented this dye using crystal violet dye. This chemical stained those bacteria with a thick peptidoglycan cell wall[ termed Gram + ve ] while those with a thinner cell wall remained colourless[ gram -- ve] . This was also a breakthrough event which enabled physiacians to prescribe medicines correctly.

Diseases caused by viruses have no medicines. It is our immune system which fights viral diseases by producing antibodies.

I think, we have explored only a little bit about microbes and microbiology has immense scope and is going to occupy center stage in biological science in the near future. They can be tools which can help us in several ways.