ABSTRACT
The techniques to control the growth of microorganisms have been shaped by both cultural and scientific advances. From the days of early food preservation—fermentation of milk products, smoking of meats—to extend the shelf life of foods, practical needs have contributed to the development of techniques and tools required for sterilization, disinfection, and antisepsis. Formal development of clinical medical settings led to an awareness of the causes and effects of disease. This awareness contributed to the development of infection-prevention practices and techniques by Joseph Lister, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ignaz Semmelweis, Florence Nightingale, each making formal contributions to the mitigation of disease transmission among patients. Sterilization is a process that results in the complete inactivation of all microbes, including endospores; it can be achieved by mechanical means, heat, chemicals, electromagnetic radiation, or sonic energy. Steam sterilization, dry heat inactivation of infectious microbes can be monitored using biological indicators or by chemical test strips that turn color upon having met set physical parameters.
