Table of Contents
The Microbial World and Why It Matters
Who the microbes are, and when one of them turns into trouble.
Microscopy, Staining & the Microbiology Lab
How the lab makes a germ visible and gives it a name.
Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic Cells
The two ways a cell can be built, inside and out.
Bacterial Diversity & Classification
Sorting bacteria by shape, by stain and by the tests they pass.
Viruses, Fungi & Parasites
The agents that are not bacteria at all.
Microbial Growth & Metabolism
What microbes eat, and what lets them grow.
Microbial Genetics & How Resistance Spreads
How a gene changes, and how it moves from cell to cell.
Controlling Microbes — Sterilization, Disinfection & Asepsis
Ways to kill microbes, and how clean each one leaves a surface.
Antimicrobial Drugs
What the drugs hit, and why some of them stop working.
How Microbes Cause Disease
The tools a microbe uses to get in and do harm.
Infection & Epidemiology
How infection travels, and how an outbreak is counted.
Innate Immunity
The defenses you are born with, ready in minutes.
Adaptive Immunity & Immunization
The defense that learns, remembers and can be trained.
Immune Disorders
When the immune system goes too far, or falls short.
Infectious Diseases by Body System
The usual causes of infection, region by region.