The science of Microbiology deals with Micro Organisms. The history of Microbiology can be traced to as back as 1677 when Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch cloth merchant and an amateur scientist, put a drop of water under a light microscope and saw, magnified 150 times, small dots and dashes that appeared to be swimming around He called these �animal clues�. This was the first proof of the numerous organisms of an unimaginable diversity that populate every corner of the earth.

The widening scope of Microbiology has become particularly obvious during the last few years. Fast moving areas of the life sciences such as molecular biology and molecular genetics depend on the identification of genes as individual pieces of DNA and cloning them in bacterial or eucaryotic systems. The selection and amplification of race nucleic acid sequences by the polymers chain reaction (PCR) is now done on a routine basis. This is made possible by the use of a heat resistant enzyme obtained from a micro organism.

Invention of therapeutic drugs for cure of disease and vaccine for prevention of diseases primarily depend on identifying the causative agents - micro organisms. The growing commercial field that takes advantage of microbiology is biotechnology. Micro organisms are trained, mutated and selected to solve some of the important environmental problems now facing our planet. There are Micro organisms that eat up oil spills, reduce CO2 levels and reduce toxic wastes. Traditionally, many antibiotics and enzymes have been produced using microorganisms. Fermented dairy products like cheese, yoghurt etc, and alcoholic beverages all owe themselves to tiny microorganisms. As life on earth becomes more and more important, this branch of science holds the light for the hidden secrets and opportunities. Certainly a future of tremendous scope both in research and career lies here.