Introduction

Question 1

Before microbes were discovered, how did humans use them?

Answer 1

1. To preserve milk, fruits & vegetables
2. Production of beverages
3. Bread, cheese, pickled foods, vinegar

Question 2

Who assembled the first microscope, and when, and what did he examine?

Answer 2

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1673; examined water, decaying matter and teeth scrapings & reported the presence of ‘animalcules’

Question 3

What is the theory of Spontaneous Creation and who theorised it?

Answer 3

Aristotle -> living organisms develop from non-living matter -> maggots spontaneously created from spoiled meat

Question 4

What is the counter theory against Spontaneous Creation, and who worked on this

Answer 4

Pasteur, Koch & Tyndall theorised that new microbes come from existing microbes & progenitors found in the air, and demolished the idea of Spontaneous Creation around 1875

Question 5

Who was Pasteur originally

Answer 5

A chemist working on the chirality of amyl alcohols, however, he was unable to separate L- and D-amyl alcohols, which led him to investigate the microbes that carry out fermentation

Question 6

Pasteur 1857

Answer 6

The living process of yeast was responsible for fermentation