germ theory

The germ theory of disease states that some diseases are caused
by microorganisms. These small organisms, too small to see without
magnification, invade humans, animals, and other living hosts. Their
growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause a disease. "Germ"
may refer to not just a bacterium, but also a protist, fungus, virus, prion,
or viroid.
Infectious Vs Non-infectious diseases

An infectious disease is one that is caused by an organism and that can be

transferred from one person to another. The transfer may be direct, where
the disease-causing organisms, such as viruses or bacteria, pass directly
from person to person, or it may be carried out by an intermediary (called
a vector), such as a blood-sucking insect. Examples of infectious diseases
are colds, influenza, chicken pox, herpes and measles.

Non-infectious diseases are diseases that are not due to disease-causing

organisms. They include genetic diseases, such as Down syndrome,
hemophilia, and those that are related to lifestyle or environment, such as
cardiovascular disease and skin cancer.
Spread of infectious diseases

A common way for infectious diseases to spread is through the direct

transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another.
This can occur when an individual with the bacterium or virus touches,
kisses, or coughs or sneezes on someone who isn't infected.
Unicellular and multi cellular organisms

In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system, such as

an animal, plant or bacterium. All known types of organisms are capable of
some degree of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and
development and homeostasis. An organism consists of one or morecells;
when it has one cell it is known as a unicellular organism; and when it has
more than one it is known as a multicellular organism. Most unicellular
organisms are of microscopic size and are thus classified
as microorganisms. Humans are multicellular organisms composed of
many trillions of cells grouped into specialized tissues and organs.

The scientific method is a body of techniques for

investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and
integrating previous knowledge.
Discovery of the cell

The cell was first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665, which can be found
to be described in his book Micrographia. In this book, he gave 60
observations in detail of various objects under a coarse, compound
microscope.[One observation was from very thin slices of bottle cork.
Hooke discovered a multitude of tiny pores that he named "cells". This
came from the Latin word Cella, meaning a small room like monks lived
in and also Cellulae, which meant the six sided cell of a honeycomb.
However, Hooke did not know their real structure or function. What Hooke
had thought were cells, were actually empty cell walls of plant tissues.
With microscopes during this time having a low magnification, Hooke was
unable to see that there were other internal components to the cells he
was observing. Therefore, he did not think the "cellulae" were alive. [ His
cell observations gave no indication of the nucleus and
other organelles found in most living cells. In Micrographia, Hooke also
observed mould, bluish in color, found on leather. After studying it under
his microscope, he was unable to observe seeds that would have
indicated how the mould was multiplying in quantity. This led to Hooke
suggesting that spontaneous generation, from either natural or artificial
heat, was the cause. Since this was an old Aristotelian theory still
accepted at the time, others did not reject it and was not disproved
until Leeuwenhoek later discovers generation is achieved otherwise. Anton
van Leeuwenhoek is another scientist who saw these cells soon after
Hooke did. He made use of a microscope containing improved lenses that
could magnify objects almost 300-fold, or 270x. Under these microscopes,
Leeuwenhoek found motile objects. In a letter to The Royal Society on
October 9, 1676, he states that motility is a quality of life therefore these
were living organisms. Over time, he wrote many more papers in which
described many specific forms of microorganisms. Leeuwenhoek named
these animalcules, which included protozoa and other unicellular
organisms, like bacteria. Though he did not have much formal education,
he was able to identify the first accurate description of red blood cells and
discovered bacteria after gaining interest in the sense of taste that
resulted in Leeuwenhoek to observe the tongue of an ox, then leading him
to study "pepper water" in 1676. He also found for the first time the sperm
cells of animals and humans. Once discovering these types of cells,
Leeuwenhoek saw that the fertilization process requires the sperm cell to
enter the egg cell. This put an end to the previous theory of spontaneous
generation. After reading letters by Leeuwenhoek, Hooke was the first to
confirm his observations that were thought to be unlikely by other
contemporaries.

Cell theory

In biology, cell theory is a scientific theory which describes the properties

of cells. These cells are the basic unit of structure in all organisms and also
the basic unit of reproduction. With continual improvements made
to microscopes over time, magnification technology advanced enough to
discover cells in the 17th century. This discovery is largely attributed
to Robert Hooke, and began the scientific study of cells, also known as cell
biology. Over a century later, many debates about cells began amongst
scientists. Most of these debates involved the nature of cellular
regeneration, and the idea of cells as a fundamental unit of life. Cell
theory was eventually formulated in 1838. This is usually credited
to Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann. However, many other
scientists like Rudolf Virchow contributed to the theory. Cell theory has
become the foundation of biology and is the most widely accepted
explanation of the function of cells.

The three tenets to the cell theory are as described below:

All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.

The cell is the basic unit of structure and organization in

organisms.

Cells come from preexisting cells.