Micro-organisms

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and in 1928 whist he was tidying up his laboratory he fould some old plates with bacteria on. He noticed that one of the plates had mould on it and the area around the mould had no bacteria on it.

Further research on the mould found that it could kill other types of bacteria too. It took another ten years though for the discovery of the substance in the mould that killed the bacteria, this substance is called penicillin and is a type of antibiotic used today to cure bacterial diseases.

Edward Jenner was a doctor in England in the late 18th and early 19th century.

He had noticed that dairy maids and those working close to cows would catch cow pox from the cattle, but those people would not catch small pox which was a deadly disease at the time.

He is famous for his experiment he did on an eight year old boy call James Phipps. Jenner took some pus from a cow pox blister and put it in a cut on James' arm. After this James Phipps became immune to small pox.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek was from the Netherlands and invented the microscope by putting two lenses together in 1675. He made over 250 differnt types of microscopes of which only 9 survive now.

He was the first to see bacteria and called them "animalcules"

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist. He discovered that if you boiled a liquid and sealed it from dust and air then microbes would not grow in that liquid. He used this technique on milk and wine to keep them from going sour. We still use this method today to keep our milk, beer and wine fresh and it is called Pateurization.

These experiments led Louis Pasteur to the idea that microbes were the cause of disease and through further work he discovered that if chickens were given a very weak strain of chicken cholera then those chickens would not get infected with the disease. He called the weakened bacteria that he made vaccines and this principle is used today in medicine.

Although Edward Jenner had had the same idea, they differ in that Louis Pasteur created his own weakened version of the bacteria whereas Edward Jenner used a weakened version he had found in nature.

• Although credit is given to Louis Pasteur for Pasteurization, the same process of heating wine to preserve it was known in China since 1117 AD.

Bacteria are thought to be the simplest creatures that exist. They grow everywhere, in our food, in ourselves, in the soil, in hot springs, in the oceans, deep in the earth's crust, even in radioactive waste.

There are about ten times as many bacterial cells in our bodies as there are cells in our bodies. Most of the bacteria in us are harmless and a few help us but there are bacteria that cause infectious diseases.

There are many uses for bacteria, in sewage treatment, food and drink production, chemicals and medicine. Find out about them here.

Fungi are the moulds you see growing on old food.

Not all fungi are bad as some are used for antibiotics.

Yeast is also a type of fungus and is used to make food and drink.

Lichens live in places other microbes cannot as they are made up of two organisms knitted together, which are fungi and algae.

Lichens can live on a rock and don't even need soil as the fungus can break down the minerals in a rock whilst algae provide energy.

Some animals are so small they can only be seen through a microscope. These include dust mites and spider mites.

Green Algae are a type of microscopic plant that gets it energy from the sun. There are about 6000 species of green algae.

Micro-organisms have been used in warfare for centuries. In the Middle Ages dead plague victims and poos from plague victims were flung over castle walls using catapults so that the enemy would catch the disease.

In the First World War Germany used Anthrax to poison Russian horses.

In the Second WorldWar the Imperial Japanese Army contaminated a river with typhoid so they could poison the Russian troops there. They also bombed a city called Ningbo with fleas carrying the bubonic plague.

Nowadays treaties have been made so that biological weapons are no longer used in war.

Waste water from our toilets, baths, showers, kitchens and sinks is taken down pipes to a sewage treatment plant. Here both chemicals and micro-organisms are used to clear this waste of toxins and dangerouse microbes.

Micro-organisms are used to make some foods and drink.

yeast is a fungus and is used to make bread. When it is warm and damp it takes the carbohydrates and sugars in the bread ingredients and changes them into carbon dioxide (that's the fizz in fizzy drinks). This makes the dough soft and light and creates gas bubbles which make the dough rise. This process is called fermentation.

Bacteria are used for cheese making and it is the different types of bacteria used in each cheese which give each cheese its own flavour.

Some other foods and drinks which use bacteria are: butter, yoghurt, chocolate, olives, soy sauce, coffee, beer and wine. Even some vitamin tablets use bacteria to make the vitamins.

Microbes can be used to create electricity and produce alternative fuels

Scientist are currently working on a method that uses bacteria feeding on waste products to generate electricity.

The fermentation process uses microbes to create the fuels ethanol and methanol.

Algae is also being used to produce an alternative to fossil fuel.

Bacteria are the cause of a lot of diseases such as cholera, pneumonia and dysentery amoungs others.

To help fight against bacterial diseases and infections doctors use either vaccines or antibiotics.

Vaccines were discovered by Louis Pasteur and are given by injection to boost your immune system against certain bacterial diseases.

Antibiotics were fist discovered by Alexander Fleming and are medicines given that kill or injure the bacteria causing the disease or infection.

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist. He discovered that if you boiled a liquid and sealed it from dust and air then microbes would not grow in that liquid. He used this technique on milk and wine to keep them from going sour. We still use this method today to keep our milk, beer and wine fresh and it is called Pateurization.

These experiments led Louis Pasteur to the idea that microbes were the cause of disease and through further work he discovered that if chickens were given a very weak strain of chicken cholera then those chickens would not get infected with the disease. He called the weakened bacteria that he made vaccines and this principle is used today in medicine.

Although Edward Jenner had had the same idea, they differ in that Louis Pasteur created his own weakened version of the bacteria whereas Edward Jenner used a weakened version he had found in nature.

• Although credit is given to Louis Pasteur for Pasteurization, the same process of heating wine to preserve it was known in China since 1117 AD.

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and in 1928 whist he was tidying up his laboratory he fould some old plates with bacteria on. He noticed that one of the plates had mould on it and the area around the mould had no bacteria on it.

Further research on the mould found that it could kill other types of bacteria too. It took another ten years though for the discovery of the substance in the mould that killed the bacteria, this substance is called penicillin and is a type of antibiotic used today to cure bacterial diseases.

Not all bacteria are bad for us, there are over 400 different types that live in our digestive system and many of these are good. Good bacteria can:

• Help us digest food
• help our bodies produce vitamins
• Stop harmful bacteria setting up home in our digestive system
• Supports our immune system by dealing with harmful microbes.
• Help our digestive tracts renew themselves protecting us against cell damage

Earth's life cycle depends on micro-organisms as they can decompose dead organisms and produce the nutrients needed by plants and animals to live.

Plants also depend on bacteria to help them absorb the nutrients into their roots that are needed for growth.

Micro-0rganisms can be used to help the environment

There is one type of bacteria eats oil and is used to clean oil spills and microbes are also used in the making of green energy.

Microbes can be used to create electricity and produce alternative fuels

Scientist are currently working on a method that uses bacteria feeding on waste products to generate electricity.

The fermentation process uses microbes to create the fuels ethanol and methanol.

Algae is also being used to produce an alternative to fossil fuel.

Micro-organisms are used to make some foods and drink.

yeast is a fungus and is used to make bread. When it is warm and damp it takes the carbohydrates and sugars in the bread ingredients and changes them into carbon dioxide (that's the fizz in fizzy drinks). This makes the dough soft and light and creates gas bubbles which make the dough rise. This process is called fermentation.

Bacteria are used for cheese making and it is the different types of bacteria used in each cheese which give each cheese its own flavour.

Some other foods and drinks which use bacteria are: butter, yoghurt, chocolate, olives, soy sauce, coffee, beer and wine. Even some vitamin tablets use bacteria to make the vitamins.

Bacteria are the cause of a lot of diseases such as cholera, pneumonia and dysentery amoungs others.

To help fight against bacterial diseases and infections doctors use either vaccines or antibiotics.

Vaccines were discovered by Louis Pasteur and are given by injection to boost your immune system against certain bacterial diseases.

Antibiotics were fist discovered by Alexander Fleming and are medicines given that kill or injure the bacteria causing the disease or infection.

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist. He discovered that if you boiled a liquid and sealed it from dust and air then microbes would not grow in that liquid. He used this technique on milk and wine to keep them from going sour. We still use this method today to keep our milk, beer and wine fresh and it is called Pateurization.

These experiments led Louis Pasteur to the idea that microbes were the cause of disease and through further work he discovered that if chickens were given a very weak strain of chicken cholera then those chickens would not get infected with the disease. He called the weakened bacteria that he made vaccines and this principle is used today in medicine.

Although Edward Jenner had had the same idea, they differ in that Louis Pasteur created his own weakened version of the bacteria whereas Edward Jenner used a weakened version he had found in nature.

• Although credit is given to Louis Pasteur for Pasteurization, the same process of heating wine to preserve it was known in China since 1117 AD.

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and in 1928 whist he was tidying up his laboratory he fould some old plates with bacteria on. He noticed that one of the plates had mould on it and the area around the mould had no bacteria on it.

Further research on the mould found that it could kill other types of bacteria too. It took another ten years though for the discovery of the substance in the mould that killed the bacteria, this substance is called penicillin and is a type of antibiotic used today to cure bacterial diseases.