The Germ Theory oI Disease

Christian Castellanos, Ruiqi He, Dillon Yao

Senior Division
Group Website

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We started out with a list oI several potential topics, each pertaining to this year`s
themeRevolution, Reaction, ReIorm in history. Among the many potential topics we had in
mind, the germ theory oI disease was the topic which enticed us the most. We knew that this
topic had to represent this year`s theme. The germ theory oI disease was a revolution in the
nineteenth through twentieth century when scientists across the world were trying to discover the
cause oI disease. It was the time oI the revolution Ior health in a bacterial world. The idea that
eventually developedthat microorganisms were the cause Ior diseasescaused society to
reIorm greatly, providing an avenue into drugs and antibiotics.
To display our research, we decided to use the Iormat oI a website. We agreed that a
website, above all other Iormats, had the ability to display a variety oI media, such as videos,
quotations, pictures, and documents, to contribute to the audience`s understanding oI germ
theory. Websites have the ability display the research in a clean, organized manner, so we
decided to create an electronic mosaic.
We started our preliminary research by borrowing a variety oI books Irom diIIerent
school and university libraries. We also used Encyclopedia Britannica, textbooks, and a variety
oI online government and education websites Ior background inIormation. A highlight to our
research was reading the nonIiction novel, 'Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a
Bacterial World by Jessica Snyder Sachs. It presented an extremely thorough walkthrough oI
the development oI germ theory, explained much oI the resulting development oI drugs and
antibiotics, and presented a plethora oI direct quotations Irom germ theory`s most Iamous
contributing scientists. Also, a major contributing source was the interviews we perIormed with
proIessors and research scientists Irom the University oI Texas at San Antonio and the UT
Health Science Center at San Antonio. By conducting these interviews, we Iound examples oI
ways the development oI germ theory has aIIected the medical society today. Bernard
Arulanandam, PhD, and Srinivas Mummidi, PhD, provided signiIicant insight on how germ
theory has aIIected their daily work with microbiology.
We Iirst chose the artistic design Ior our website to make it look simple yet proIessional.
Then, we divided our research into categories and named the tabs oI our website. We then
organized our research by making an outline oI what to include under each tab. We then wrote
the actual body Ior each tab on the website. Finally, we included a variety oI media, including
short clips Irom the taped interviews (to show the incredible reIorm oI the medical society),
which were edited by iMovie and Windows Movie Maker; pictures; documents; photographs;
and quotations.
The germ theory oI disease was developed due to the many experiments various scientists
conducted over the past three centuries to prove that disease is, aIter all, caused by
microorganisms. Without this revolution, some oI the most vital concepts toward human health
today would have never been contributed.