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Essay on HS320 Microbiology Unit1 Assignment

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A Basic Understanding of Microscopy
Assignment 1
Kaplan University-Microbiology

Since microorganisms are not visible to the eye, the essential tool in microbiology is the microscope. One of the first to use a microscope to observe microorganisms was Robert Hooke, the English biologist who observed algae and fungi in the 1660s. In the 1670s, “Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch merchant, constructed a number of simple microscopes and observed details of numerous forms of protozoa, fungi, and bacteria” (Introduction to Microscopes, n.d.). During the 1700s, microscopes were used to further explore on the microbial world, and by the late 1800s, the light microscope had been developed. “The electron microscope was developed in the 1940s, thus …show more content…

Another limitation is out of focus light from outside the focal plane reducing image clarity or requiring constant adjusting. On the other hand, under the right conditions, light microscopy allows for viewing of samples that are still alive. There are aids such as fluorescent proteins, that can be used to track proteins in real-time in cells though the viewing of where the proteins are may not be very high in resolution, you may see roughly where the protein is in the cell, but will not be able to see the shape of the protein itself. Lastly confocal light microscopy gives moderately higher resolution, and significant enhancements in optical sectioning by limiting out-of-focus light.
The Electron Microscope
In electron microscopy, on the other hand, a beam of electrons with a negative charge, instead of light is sent through a very thin slice of the specimen. Because the electron beam has a far smaller wavelength than light used in light microscopy, it achieves far better resolution, “the current resolution of limit of the best electron microscope is approximately 0.05 nm atomic resolution, and 4000X better magnification than that of a conventional light microscope”(BSP, S., 2010). This means that with an electron microscope you can potentially achieve enough magnification to observe the shape of the protein machinery that carries out the work inside of cells. The major limitation of electron microscopy is that specimen

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