BIOLOGY REVISION

MICROORGANISMS
IMMUNE RESPONSE
Most microorganisms are harmless and many perform vital functions. However some
called pathogens, cause disease. Intact skin forms a barrier against them and if it is
broken, blood clots to seal the wound. Within the body is the immune system white
blood cells called phagocytes ingest microorganisms, lymphocytes secrete antibodies
which work against the antigen on that particular microorganisms surface (which will
be foreign to the individuals body which has its own antigens) and others produce
anti-toxins. Pathogens must also compete with the body's natural population of
microorganisms, for example the skin flora, which make it difficult for them to become
established.

After an antigen has been encountered, memory cells remain in the body and
antibodies are produced very quickly and in large members compared to the first time
if the same antigen is encountered again. This memory provides immunity following a
natural infection and after vaccination. The response is highly specific to the antigen
involved.

EDWARD JENNER
Jenner made the first vaccination against small pox. He inserted pus from a cowpox
pustule into an incision on the boy's arm after hearing that milkmaids who suffered the
mild cowpox never caught the more fatal smallpox. He tried to infect the boy with
smallpox weeks later but he was immune.

VACCINATION
Vaccination introduces the microorganism into the blood in a dead or weakened form.
The microbe has the antigens on it which cause the immune reaction but not the
disease. This means that memory cells for those antigens are formed, and the person
becomes immune to the disease. Sometimes, booster vaccines will be needed at
intervals to develop full immunity.
Some viruses (e.g. cold and flu viruses) regularly mutate and change their antigens.
The white blood cells can no longer identify the virus and so the immunity to it is lost.
For that reason, a new flu vaccine is given every year. Other viral diseases, such as
measles, very rarely mutate and so immunity lasts for a lifetime once it has been
acquired.
Vaccines are only used to protect against diseases which can have serious
consequences as some can have side effects. A judgement has to be made about the
potential benefits of the vaccine against the risk of side effects. For example, Hepatitis
B is a serious disease which can cause liver damage and can be fatal. The side
effects of the vaccine include the vaccination site becoming sore (25% of patients),
fever (7% of patients) and severe allergic reaction (0.0001% of patients). In this case,
the chances of getting a severe allergic reaction, the only really serious side-effect, is
so small that the obvious choice is to have the vaccine, especially if you are in a group
that has a high risk of catching hepatitis B.
In order to make an informed decision about having a vaccination, the public need
information, such as: the seriousness of the disease, the likelihood of catching it, the
possible side effects, the chances of getting those side-effects. This information needs
to be based on sound scientific evidence. The media and public opinion can also
influence this decision.

ANTIBIOTICS
Antibiotics (e.g. penicillin) were originally medicines produced by living organisms but
are now often chemically modified and so are semi-synthetic or synthetic. Antibiotics
help to cure bacterial disease by killing the bacteria or preventing their growth but
cannot kill viruses because they live inside the hosts cell so cannot be reached.
For many years, doctors have given out antibiotics to treat infection and they are also
used in some countries in animal feed. Common microorganisms can therefore be
exposed to antibiotics very often causing the natural selection of microorganisms with
genetic immunity to the antibiotic. To try prevent this doctors try to not give out
antibiotics unless they are essential and constantly varying these antibiotics so
constant exposure to them is avoided.
The MRSA bacterium is an antibiotic-resistant form which has evolved from the
common Staphylococcus bacterium, a super-bug. MRSA is spread by direct contact
and can be controlled with hand-washing, thorough cleansing of hospital wards, use
of alcohol gels and MRSA screening.

GROWING MICROORGANISMS
Aseptic technique is used when growing microorganisms to ensure the culture, often
grown on agar jelly, is not contaminated by other microorganisms. Petri dishes and
nutrient agar should be sterilised before use, for example by heating, and carefully
disposed of afterwards, for example by burning. The inoculating loop used to transfer
the microorganism should also be sterilised before and after use by heating it to red
heat in a Bunsen flame. The Petri dish lid prevents microorganisms from the air
contaminating a culture and vice versa and thus should be lifted as little as possible
when in use and be secured in place by tape.
Inoculated agar plates are incubated to allow the bacteria to grow at 25C to avoid
growing pathogens. The number of bacteria in the original sample will equal the
number of colonies. Increasing temperature increases the rate of the bacteria growth
up to about 40C when the enzymes are denatured. Therefore food is refrigerated to
slow bacteria growth or frozen to stop it.

PENICILLIN
The fungus Penicillium is grown industrially in fermenters to produce the antibiotic
penicillin. To ensure the best possible environment for growth temperature is kept at
around 23-28C, pH is kept at around 6.5, a good supply of oxygen is given because
it is an aerobic fungus and the starter culture is added to a liquid nutrient culture
medium which is kept topped up. After about 200 hours the liquid is drained, filtered to
remove the fungus and treated chemically to extract the penicillin.

MYCOPROTEIN
Mycoprotein is a protein produced by the fungus Fusarium venenatum. It is
flavourless and has flavours added. It is marketed as Quorn and acts as a substitute
for meat for human and animal food. The fungus is grown in fermenters in a similar
way to Penicillium. It has advantages such as being a good source of protein for
vegetarians, growing more rapidly than crops or livestock so the food can be
produced quickly, growing in a contained way minimum space is used, being easy
and quick to grow a certain amount due to the controlled conditions and not being
dependent on factors like climate and soil. Waste materials from other processes
(e.g. whey from cheese) may be used as a food source the microorganisms.

OTHERS USES
Microorganisms have an important role in decay. Some are even able to breakdown
plastics or produce biodegradable ones. Some can be used in cleaning up pollution
e.g. oil eating microorganisms that use the oil as food. They can also contribute to the
production of biofuels e.g. ethanol made from sugar cane, sugar beet or corn can
easily be broken down to sugar and this sugar can be fermented to ethanol by
microorganisms.