You Can Be Anything › All careers › Science & Research

Microbiologist

Studies microscopic organisms — bacteria, viruses, fungi — and their effects on humans and the environment.

Did you know?

In 1676 a Dutch cloth merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, described tiny living 'animalcules' seen through homemade microscopes magnifying up to 275 times.

How subjects help

• Biology: Grow bacteria and fungi in dishes and study how they feed, spread and cause disease.
• Chemistry: Test which antibiotic or disinfectant kills a germ and how the germ fights back.
• Mathematics: Calculate how fast bacteria multiply to predict how quickly food will spoil.
• Physics: Use microscopes and lenses to see germs far too small for the naked eye.

A famous name

Louis Pasteur: Helped prove that germs cause disease and developed vaccines against rabies and anthrax.

Try it yourself: Blow up a balloon with yeast

1. Pour about 5 cm of warm tap water into each bottle and add a teaspoon of dried yeast to both.
2. Add one teaspoon of sugar to one bottle only, then swirl both gently.
3. Stretch a balloon over the neck of each bottle and stand them somewhere warm.
4. Check every 5 minutes for 20 minutes and note what the balloons are doing. Which bottle made more gas, and what does that tell you the yeast needs? (Leave them for an hour to see even more.)

Microbiologists grow microbes in different conditions and measure what they produce, which is how bakers, brewers and medicine makers learn to use yeast and bacteria.

Adapted from The Francis Crick Institute: Bring a balloon to life.

Also try: Lift and sort your fingerprints.

Known for it in

USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Japan

Related careers

• Chemist
• Forensic Scientist
• Biologist
• Astronomer
• Geologist
• Geneticist