Lab Practical Micro-Biology Part I

The word MICROBIOLOGY describes exactly what the discipline is: the study of small living things. MICRO = small BIO = living and LOGY = to study. Microbiology (or specifically bacteriology) is still a very young science and not yet completely understood. Only about three hundred years have passed since the discovery of the first bacteria. Many estimates suggest that we have studied only about 1% of all the microbes in any given environment1. In the scope of the world it is obvious to see that the discipline of microbiology is still in its infancy.What is microbiology all about? In their text Drs. Thomas Brock and Michael Madigan summarize several aspects of microbiology2. Living cells and how they work. Microorganisms an important class of cells capable of independent existence. Microbial diversity and evolution. What microbes do in the world in human society in our bodies and in the bodies of animals and plants. It is about the central role microbiology plays as a basic biological science and how an understanding of microbiology helps in the understanding of the biology of higher organisms–including humans.