Answer :

Final answer:

Koch's postulates are stringent criteria to identify disease-causing agents, but limitations arise when dealing with certain pathogens like viruses and prions. Molecular Koch's postulates, introduced by Falkow, emphasize gene identification to determine pathogenicity, bypassing the need for pathogen isolation and culture.


Explanation:

Koch's postulates are a set of criteria used to identify the causative agent of a particular disease. However, a limitation of the original Koch's postulates is that they may not be applicable to all pathogenic microorganisms, such as viruses and prions, which cannot be cultured like bacteria.

Molecular Koch's postulates, proposed by Stanley Falkow in 1988, address this limitation by focusing on identifying specific genes that make an organism pathogenic, rather than solely relying on isolation and culture of the pathogen.

Therefore, genetic manipulation of some pathogens may not be feasible using current methods, and some diseases lack suitable animal models, making both the original and molecular Koch's postulates challenging to apply universally.


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