Final answer:
Koch's postulates are four criteria established by Robert Koch to ascertain whether a particular microorganism is responsible for a specific disease. Though highly influential in microbiology, not all pathogens adhere strictly to these postulates due to the ability of some to exist in healthy individuals or not grow in pure cultures, necessitating adaptations like Molecular Koch's postulates.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Koch's Postulates:
In the 19th century, Robert Koch established a series of criteria, known as Koch's postulates, to link a specific microorganism as the causative agent of a particular disease. These postulates are still essential to the field of microbiology and have helped in the identification of numerous human pathogens. Here are the four rules or postulates:
- The microorganism must be found in abundance in all organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be found in healthy organisms.
- The microorganism must be isolated from a diseased organism and grown in pure culture.
- The cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy organism.
- The microorganism must be reisolated from the inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as being identical to the original specific causative agent.