Balasi, Jamille Nympha C.

BSED-3 sci

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek is a dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and
protozoa. His researches on lower animals refuted the doctrine of spontaneous generation, and his
observations helped lay the foundations for the sciences of bacteriology and protozoology.

Early life and career

At a young age, Leeuwenhoek lost his biological father. His mother later married painter Jacob
Jansz Molijn. When his stepfather died in 1648, Leeuwenhoek was sent to Amsterdam to become an
apprentice to a linen draper. Returning to Delft when he was 20, he established himself as a draper and
haberdasher. He became a chamberlain to the sheriffs of delft. He then devote his time to his hobby of
grinding lenses and using them to study tiny objects. Van Leeuwenhoek was invited to join the Royal
Society of London in 1680, an organization that included some of the leading intellectuals of this period,
such as Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke.

Contribution of Leeuwenhoek to Microbiology and it's important

Van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to develop a lens of such superior quality. His
technological contributions include increasing the magnification capacity of the microscope from 20x-
30x to 270x. The way in which Van Leeuwenhoek put microscopes to work resulted in his greatest
contributions to the body of scientific knowledge.

Anton Van Leeuwenhoek's single most important discovery was the existence of single-cell
organisms. While using a microscope to examine pond water in 1674, he observed dozens of protists,
which he called 'animalcules,' as well as spirogyra, or green algae. Van Leeuwenhoek also discovered the
existence of sperm in mammals in 1677, something he considered his most significant discovery.

Importance of his work in present

 Microscopes have opened up many doors in science. By using Microscopes scientists,
researchers and students were able to discover the existence of microorganisms, study the structure of
cells and see the smallest parts of plants, animals and fungi. We've used it to determine the bad and
good bacteria circulating in our body.

Edward Jenner

On the 17th of May 1749, Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. He was the
eighth of nine children born to the Reverend Stephen Jenner, a Berkeley vicar, and his wife Sarah. Dr.
Edward Jenner was a scientist and a doctor in England.The world's first vaccination, the smallpox
vaccine, was discovered by him. He died on January 26, 1823, after been born on May 17, 1749.

Contribution

In order to prevent smallpox, he introduced a new vaccine method. Rheumatic heart disease
was also found by him.

How did Jenner vaccine work?

On May 14, 1796, Jenner took fluid from a cowpox blister and scratched it into the skin of James
Phipps, an eight-year-old boy. A single blister rose up on the spot, but James soon recovered. On July 1,
Jenner inoculated the boy again, this time with smallpox matter, and no disease developed. The vaccine
was a success. Doctors all over Europe soon adopted Jenner’s innovative technique, leading to a drastic
decline in new sufferers of the devastating disease.
What impact has Edward Jenner had on our lives today?

Jenner's influence extends beyond the smallpox virus. Jenner is recognized for saving more lives
than any other human being as the father of vaccines. Vaccination is the most efficient way to avoid
infectious diseases, and vaccinations can now help to prevent or reduce the spread of disease.

Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming was a microbiologist and scientist from Scotland. As a student at the Royal
Polytechnic Institute in London, he began to acquire a passion for science at a young age. Alexander
Fleming entered at St. Mary's Medical School in 1903, where he studied microbiology and biomedical
research. He went on to become a professor at St. Mary's University, where he worked on vaccine
development and infection control research.

When it came to his laboratory, Fleming had a reputation for being a strong researcher, but he was also
known for being untidy and sloppy. In microbial research, tidiness is critical for preventing
contamination; therefore this was a harsh critique. However, it was because of this characteristic that he
made his most famous blunder.

His contribution to microbiology

Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) observed in 1928 that a mold that had formed in a Petri plate
with a bacteria culture had killed the germs around it. Penicillin was the name he gave the mold's active
ingredient. He also discovered the enzyme lysozyme from his nasal discharge in 1922, and along with it a
bacterium he named Micrococcus Lysodeikticus, later renamed Micrococcus luteus.
 In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin, it was the first ever antibiotic. In the hospital
where he worked, he grew bacteria cultures in petri dishes. One of the bacteria cultures was
contaminated by a fungal spore, which developed into a fungal colony.

After isolating the mold and identifying it as belonging to the Penicillium genus, Fleming obtained an
extract from the mold, naming its active agent penicillin. He determined that penicillin had an
antibacterial effect on staphylococci and other gram-positive pathogens.

He at first called the substance “mould juice” and then “penicillin,” after the mold that produced it.
Fleming decided to investigate further, because he thought that he had found an enzyme more potent
than lysozyme. In fact, it was not an enzyme but an antibiotic—one of the first to be discovered.

What is the importance of pencillin in present?

The discovery of penicillin was a major medical breakthrough. Penicillin was the first effective
antibiotic that could be used to kill bacteria. This meant that cures for serious illnesses were possible
even if the patient had the disease.