The discipline of microbiology is often divided into sub-disciplines such as medical microbiology, environmental microbiology, food microbiology and industrial microbiology. Industrial microbiology or microbial biotechnology is the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by microorganisms. The microorganisms utilized may be native isolates, laboratory-selected mutants or microbes that have been genetically modified using recombinant DNA methods. Areas of industrial microbiology include discovery of new microorganisms, pathways and metabolites. Microorganisms under normal condition produce large number of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food-grade products. Other applications of these microorganisms are the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants, microorganisms are safely used for many treatment processes carried in bioremediation.
Medical microbiology focuses on pathogenic microorganisms, their identification, virulence and mode of transmission, as well as what pathogens do to human body and how they can be eradicated. The emergence of resistant microorganisms, by either mutations or acquisition of mobile genetic elements carrying resistance genes, may take place irrespective of the presence of antimicrobial agents. Efforts are done to control the current global threat of antimicrobial resistance and to find new antimicrobial products of natural and synthetic nature.
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