You are the science reporter for your local newspaper. Your editor asks you to prepare an article on a major topic within the general field of microbiology. He stipulates that in this article you need to include the following three things:

1. An historical timeline for the major scientific discoveries that has led to our current understanding of the topic..
2. A summary of our current understanding of the topic..
3. A projection of where the next major advance or breakthrough in your topic will come from.