Before entering fully into the meaning of the term microbiology, we are going to proceed to know its etymological origin. In this case, we have to emphasize that it derives from Greek. Exactly it is the result of the sum of several lexical components of that language:
-The prefix «mikros-«, which can be translated as «small».
-The noun "bios", which is synonymous with "life".
-The word "logos", which is equivalent to "study" or "treaty."
-The suffix "-ia", which is used to indicate "quality."
Microbiology is the scientific specialty dedicated to studying microbes . A microbe or microorganism , on the other hand, is an organism that can only be detected using a microscope .
It can be said, therefore, that microbiology is focused on the analysis of living beings so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. That is why this discipline requires the use of microscopes , which are instruments that allow magnifying what is observed to visualize what the human eye cannot detect on its own.
Microbiology experts study both unicellular organisms and prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms without cellular differentiation. Viruses and bacteria , therefore, are part of his field of interest.
Linked to areas of medicine such as epidemiology and immunology , microbiology is of great importance for health but, at the same time, it still has a long way to go. Although the advances in technology in recent centuries are notable, it is believed that only 1% of the microbes found in the biosphere have been studied.
For a long time, human beings made inferences, deductions and speculations about the effects generated by microbes, even before knowing they existed. Issues such as the spread of diseases or fermentation in the production of alcoholic beverages were explained through supernatural or non-scientific theories, such as the postulation of miasmas . Finally, the development of microbiology made it possible to verify the exact functioning of multiple processes.
In addition to everything indicated, we cannot ignore that there are different branches or disciplines within microbiology itself. Good examples of this are the following:
-Agricultural microbiology, which is responsible for studying and analyzing the microorganisms found in the soils that are intended for cultivation .
-Medical microbiology, which is focused on the study of microorganisms that cause different diseases in humans.
-Industrial microbiology. This, as its name indicates, is responsible for studying microorganisms in depth for their use in the industrial field. Specifically, we can establish that it studies both the production of certain biologists and the production of alcoholic beverages, for example.
-Veterinary microbiology is, for its part, the branch or subdiscipline that is responsible for analyzing and studying in depth what microorganisms are that can cause diseases in animals.
And to these we should also add, for example, evolutionary microbiology or environmental microbiology.
It should be noted that in microbiology it is possible to recognize several areas aimed at specific studies. Among them we can name mycology ( fungi ), virology ( viruses ) and bacteriology ( bacteria ), for example.