episode_0013
by fnovelpiaEpisode 13. The Discovery of Bacteria (3)
****
Istina looked up from the paper she was looking at.
“Oh, what is that? I think you might be able to see it if you had a really strong magnifying glass.”
Istina knows the answer.
“Yes. As Mr. Oliver said earlier, the best way would be to sense the particles in question.”
I looked around the classroom.
“For the time being, my classes will mainly focus on proving the existence of these particles and elucidating their properties. Come forward.”
Oliver stepped forward cautiously. I placed the newly made microscope on the podium.
“Look at my eyes.”
The performance of the microscope is poor due to various problems such as focus, glass transparency, etc.
And there’s no hair dye.
You won’t see any bacteria under that microscope.
We only focused on one water bear caught in the Academy pond. By the way, water bears are about 500 times larger than bacteria.
“Oh. I see something moving!”
“Right.”
Oliver took his eyes off the microscope.
“Is that the cause of the disease?”
“Oh, that’s not it. It’s just an example of a microscopic creature.”
I turned my head towards the students.
“Yang Istina. What properties must an observed particle satisfy in order for there to be evidence that it is the cause of a disease?”
Istina frowned.
A look that says, “Why are you asking me that?”
“Uh, I don’t know… … . First of all, the particles must have come from the patient.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Istina breathed a sigh of relief.
****
I picked up the chalk again.
– The cause of infectious diseases is particulate matter.
This time, the girl sitting next to Oliver raised her hand. People certainly enjoy contradicting others. If I had just said something ordinary, the students would have all fallen asleep.
You guys are listening to my lectures like sharks smelling blood, trying to find errors in what I say. This is a very positive situation.
“Okay. What’s the student’s name?”
“This is Amy.”
“Speak up, Miss Amy.”
That’s a strange name.
“Disease can occur in many places, but isn’t there no evidence that these particles, as the professor says, exist everywhere?”
“This is a fair criticism.”
I looked around the classroom.
“Then how can we prove that particulate matter exists in the air?”
“I don’t know.”
“As Oliver just saw, microbes are also living things. Isn’t it possible that they can die from physical or chemical stimuli?”
Amy nodded.
“Heating the samples to kill the microorganisms in both samples. Compare the samples exposed to air and the samples not exposed to air, right?”
“Oh, I see. So you’re saying that if you boil it to kill the microbes and then block the air, the sample won’t spoil?”
right.
I drew two flasks with chalk.
This is Pasteur’s experiment.
This is an experiment that refutes the theory of spontaneous generation and proves that the cause of decay and disease is not the air, but bacteria in the air.
Well, I’ll have to try that later.
“Let’s think about it a little more. Isn’t there another way to prove the existence of particles?”
Again, Oliver raised his hand.
“Oliver.”
“If it were true that these particles were causing the disease, wouldn’t we be able to see the particles in question in the patient’s wound?”
I nodded.
“What… … . Good idea, but.”
“Is this wrong?”
That’s true, but it won’t be easy. Bacteria and human cells are invisible without a process like dyeing. They’re transparent.
“Can Dr. Oliver distinguish between the components of the patient’s body and the particles in question? There are also equipment performance issues, and not all germs are visible.”
In fact, most bacteria and cells are completely invisible unless stained. Oliver frowned after thinking about it for a moment.
I picked up the chalk again.
– Components and layers of the human body.
“Professor. Then. What do the minute components of a patient or a human being look like?”
That’s a very good question.
“What do you think it would look like? Everyone, think about it. What do you think the microscopic structure of the human body should look like to most effectively support life activities?”
Oliver scratched his head.
“Uh……”
It’s a question that surprisingly has an answer.
If you have studied even a little bit of biology or physiology, there is a word you cannot help but know.
The close relationship between structure and function.
It’s a statement that holds true at every level of biology.
From the structure of the lungs, which maximizes the surface area exposed to air, to the double helix structure of nucleic acids, which can easily unfold and stretch.
Of course, the cell structure that all living things share is also closely related to its function. Is cell theory also a field that can be logically deduced? If you think about it carefully, it could be.
Oliver was ultimately unable to answer.
“What… … . Let’s think about it simply. You know that 70% of humans are water, right?”
Oliver nodded.
“But that doesn’t mean that water leaks out of the body. The structure is capable of holding a lot of water… …. Teacher Istina. Tell me.”
“Uh, sponge structure?”
“The sponge structure makes sense, but since the sponge drips water, there must be a barrier that prevents the water from moving. In several layers.”
I turned my gaze and pointed to the classroom.
“Amy. Please summarize.”
Amy cleared her throat.
“The human body is porous since 70% of it is made up of water, but it will be made up of microscopic structures with membranes that prevent the movement of water… … ?”
Great answer.
Great answer, but there’s one more question to consider: At what layer is the microstructure that impedes the movement of water, and at what layer is the porous structure?
It’s not complicated to answer.
The microscopic structures of the semipermeable membrane inside the tissue that control the movement of water, i.e. the size of the cell, are very roughly about a hundred micrometers.
The porous structure is somewhat abstract, but if you look at the organization as a whole, you can understand the sponge structure macroscopically. This is on the order of a few millimeters.
It means that the levels are different.
The porous structure of the human body is in the order of millimeters, i.e., the layers through which capillaries and other things pass. The semipermeable membrane of cells is in the order of nanometers or micrometers.
This time it was perfect. You need to understand the layers to derive the cell theory, but that’s not the point.
This time, Istina raised her hand.
“That… …. What are the levels?”
This is purely scientific, rather than medical. How can we structure and explain the human body as a system?
“What is a layer? … … . It is easy to think of it as size, but the layer we are talking about here also includes the concept of the level at which information is organized. ”
Istina looked at me with fierce eyes.
It’s a look of not understanding.
I drew a person on the blackboard.
“This is a person.”
Laughter erupted throughout the classroom. No, I’m not trying to be funny. This is something that needs to be explained from the basics.
“Humans are made up of organ systems. Respiratory system, digestive system, and such organ systems.”
“Ah. Right.”
“The organ system is made up of organs, and organs are made up of tissues. Then what are the units of the organization?”
Istina blinked her eyes again. Organ system, organ, tissue… … . What should I do?
I sighed.
“Istina. You graduated from college, so why don’t you know anything? Oliver. Answer me.”
****
Amy looked at the professor in class.
He’s the professor from the rumors.
The professor of healing came in escorting the princess in the royal carriage. Amy thought the rumor was exaggerated.
Now that I look at it, it doesn’t seem like an exaggeration.
‘I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should conduct my classes.’
It means that he had thought a lot about making things difficult for you.
‘After much thought, I decided that it would be best to teach the same research I am currently conducting.’
Undergraduates, aren’t you just telling them to die? If you teach them exactly what professors are doing, how are you supposed to understand them? Even if you do understand them, it’s questionable whether it will be helpful.
I see that Professor Klaus came to watch from the back seat, and Professor Asterix’s graduate student is sitting openly in the front.
It’s like they just put up a screen for undergraduate students because they’re bored talking about those people’s research.
No. If you’re going to use a screen, then definitely use a screen. I don’t know anything about screens. Why do you keep asking the undergraduates strange questions?
Why do you keep asking questions that undergraduates probably don’t know? You can just keep talking to your graduate students.
‘What is a layer? … … . It’s easy to think of it as size, but the layer we’re talking about here also includes the concept of the level at which information is organized.’
Well, it’s Yeongchang.
All sorts of crazy things are coming out.
What are the layers? This is more philosophical than medical. He must have sensed that I didn’t understand, so he turned around and started drawing something.
So Professor Asterix drew something with chalk. A person drawn with a stick. What is he trying to explain by drawing a human body?
“This is a person.”
This person is clearly crazy.
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. What the heck is going on?
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