Microbiology and Immunology

WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Medical training and careers in microbiology

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In the years following publication of the research,

Medawar accepted several honors, including the Royal Medal

from the Royal Society in 1959. A year later, he and Burnet

accepted the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their

discovery of acquired immunological tolerance: Burnet devel-

oped the theory and Medawar proved it. Medawar shared the

prize money with Billingham and Brent.

Medawar’s scientific concerns extended beyond

immunology, even during the years of his work toward

acquired immunological tolerance. While at Birmingham, he

and Billingham also investigated pigment spread, a phenome-

non seen in some guinea pigs and cattle where the dark spots

spread into the light areas of the skin. “Thus if a dark skin graft

were transplanted into the middle of a pale area of skin it

would soon come to be surrounded by a progressively widen-

ing ring of dark skin,” Medawar asserted in his autobiography.

The team conducted a variety of experiments, hoping to show

that the dark pigment cells were somehow “infecting” the pale

pigment cells. The tests never panned out.

Medawar also delved into animal behavior at

Birmingham. He edited a book on the subject by noted scien-

tist Nikolaas Tinbergen, who ultimately netted a Nobel Prize

in 1973. In 1957, Medawar also became a book author with his

first offering, The Uniqueness of the Individual,which was

actually a collection of essays. In 1959, his second book, The

Future of Man,was issued, containing a compilation of a

series of broadcasts he read for British Broadcasting

Corporation (BBC) radio. The series examined the impacts of

evolutionon man.

Medawar remained at University College until 1962

when he took the post of director of the National Institute for

Medical Research in London, where he continued his study of

transplants and immunology. While there, he continued writ-

ing with mainly philosophical themes. The Art of the Soluble,

published in 1967, is an assembly of essays, while his 1969

book, Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thought,is a

sequence of lectures examining the thought processes of sci-

entists. In 1969 Medawar, then president of the British

Association for the Advancement of Science, experienced the

first of a series of strokes while speaking at the group’s annual

meeting. He finally retired from his position as director of the

National Institute for Medical Research in 1971. In spite of his

physical limitations, he went ahead with scientific research in

his lab at the clinical research center of the Medical Research

Council. There he began studying cancer.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Medawar produced sev-

eral other books—some with his wife as co-author—in addi-

tion to his many essays on growth, aging, immunity, and

cellular transformations. In one of his most well-known

books, Advice to a Young Scientist,Medawar asserted that for

scientists, curiosity was more important that genius.

See alsoAntibody and antigen; Antibody-antigen, biochemical

and molecular reactions; Antibody formation and kinetics;

Antibody, monoclonal; Immunity, active, passive and delayed;

Immunity, cell mediated; Immunity, humoral regulation;

Immunochemistry; Immunogenetics; Major histocompatibility

complex (MHC); Transplantation genetics and immunology

MEDICAL TRAINING AND CAREERS IN

MICROBIOLOGYMedical training and careers in microbiology

The world of microbiology overlaps the world of medicine. As

a result, trained microbiologists find a diversity of career paths

and opportunity in medicine.

Research in medical microbiology can involve clinical

or basic science. Clinical microbiologyfocuses on the micro-

biological basis of various diseases and how to alleviate the

suffering caused by the infectious microorganism. Basic med-

ical research is concerned more with the molecular events

associated with infectious diseases or illnesses.

Both medical training and microbiology contain many

different areas of study. Medical microbiology is likewise an

area of many specialties. A medical bacteriologist can study

how bacteriacan infect humans and cause disease, and how

these disease processes can be dealt with. A medical mycolo-

gist can study pathogenic (disease-causing) fungi, molds and

yeastto find out how they cause disease. A parasitologist is

concerned with how parasitic microorganisms(those that

require a host in order to live) cause disease. A medical virol-

ogist can study the diseases attributed to infection by a virus,

such as the hemorrhagic fever caused by the Ebola virus.

The paths to these varied disciplines of study are also

varied. One route that a student can take to incorporate both

research training and medical education is the combined M.D.-

PhD. program. In several years of rigorous study, students

become physician-scientists. Often, graduates develop a clini-

cal practice combined with basic research. The experience

gained at the bedside can provide research ideas. Conversely,

laboratory techniques can be brought to bear on unraveling the

basis of human disease. The M.D.–PhD. training exemplifies

what is known as the transdisciplinary approach. Incorporating

different approaches to an issue can suggest treatment or

research strategies that might otherwise not be evident if an

issue were addressed from only one perspective.

The training for a career in the area of medicine and

medical microbiology begins in high school. Courses in the

sciences lay the foundation for the more in-depth training that

will follow in university or technical institution. With under-

graduate level training, career paths can include research

assistant, providing key technical support to a research team,

quality assurance in the food, industrial or environmental

microbiology areas, and medical technology.

Medical microbiology training at the undergraduate and

graduate levels, in the absence of simultaneous medical train-

ing, can also lead to a career as a clinical microbiologist. Such

scientists are employed in universities, hospitals and in the

public sector. For example, the United Kingdom has an exten-

sive Public Health Laboratory Service. The PHLS employs

clinical microbiologists in reference laboratories, to develop

or augment test methods, and as epidemiologists. The latter

are involved in determining the underlying causes of disease

outbreaks and in uncovering potential microbiological health

threats. Training in medical microbiology can be at the

Baccalaureate level, and in research that leads to a Masters or

a Doctoral degree. The latter is usually undertaken if the aim

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