Thanks for down learning the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co.uk.

I hope you enjoy the program.

Hello, today we'll be talking about the history of microbiology.

We have more microbes in our bodies than we have human cells.

We fear them as the cause of disease, yet are reliant on them for processes as diverse as water purification,

pharmaceuticals, bread-making and brewing. In the future we may look to them to save the

planet from environmental hazards as scientists exploit their ability to clean up pollution.

For microbes are the great recyclers on the earth, processing everything, plants, animals,

and us.

Without microbes, life would silt to a halt. How did we first discover these invisible

masters of the universe? The development of microscopes in the 17th century played a key part,

but for a while science seemed stuck in this purely observational role.

It's only when Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch begin to manipulate microbes in the lab 200 days later

that stunning advances were made.

These breakthroughs led to an understanding of how microbes

transform matter, spread disease and also prevent it with the development of antibiotics

and vaccines. So what do we know about how microbes operate? How can they contribute to

environmental stability and how to advances in genetics in microbiology help our

treatment of diseases like cancer? Here to discuss the history of microbiology at Anne Glover,

Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland and Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at

Aberdeen University. Andrew Mendelssohn, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and Medicine at Imperial College University of London,

and John Dupree, Professor of Philosophy of Science and Director of Agenis at Exeter University.

...