Final answer:
The time interval between successive generations of cases is termed generation time. It varies between organisms, with humans having a generation time of 25 years and bacteria having doubling times ranging from minutes to days.
Step-by-step explanation:
The time interval between successive generations of cases is termed generation time. In eukaryotic organisms, such as humans, it is the time between the same points of the life cycle in two successive generations. For example, the typical generation time for the human population is 25 years.
In prokaryotes, like bacteria, the generation time is also called the doubling time and is defined as the time it takes for the population to double through one round of binary fission.
Examples of different generation times include Escherichia coli with a doubling time of 20 minutes under optimal conditions, Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a generation time of 15-20 hours, and M. leprae with a doubling time of 14 days.