chapter 2 micobiologychapter 2 microbiologychapter 2 microbiologychapter 2 microbiology.ppt

One indication of the importance of microbiology in the twentieth century is the Nobel Prize given for work in physiology or medicine. About 1/3 of these have been awarded to scientists working on microbiological problems. Microbiology has both basic and applied aspects. Many microbiologists are interested primarily in the biology of the microorganisms themselves. They may focus on a specific group of microorganisms and be called virologists (viruses), bacteriologists (bacteria), phycologists or algologists (algae), mycologists (fungi), or protozoologists (protozoa). Others are interested in microbial morphology or particular functional processes and work in fields such as microbial cytology, microbial physiology, microbial ecology, microbial genetics and molecular biology, and microbial taxonomy. Of course a person can be thought of in both ways (e.g., as a bacteriologist who works on taxonomic problems). Many microbiologists have a more applied orientation and work on practical problems in fields such as medical microbiology, food and dairy microbiology, and public health microbiology (basic research is also conducted in these fields). Because the various fields of microbiology are interrelated, an applied microbiologist must be familiar with basic microbiology. For example, a medical microbiologist must have a good understanding of microbial taxonomy, genetics, immunology, and physiology to identify and properly respond to the pathogen of concern. What are some of the current occupations of professional microbiologists? One of the most active and important is medical microbiology, which deals with the diseases of humans and animals. Medical microbiologists identify the agent causing an infectious disease and plan measures to eliminate it. Frequently they are involved in tracking down new, unidentified pathogens such as the agent that causes variant creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, the hantavirus, and the virus responsible for AIDS. These microbiologists also study the