POWER OF A MICROBE: Never under-estimate it

We have bacteria that live on our skin called Natural Flora. This bacterium provides competition to harmful bacteria that land on our skin. Therefore, by survival of the fittest, the harmful bacteria cannot take over our bodies easily. Archaea and bacteria are implicated in the production of bio fuels.

Bacteria are the main producers of clinically useful antibiotics; they are a source of vaccine against once dreadful diseases; they are probiotics that enhance our health; and they are primary participants in the fermentations of dairy products and many other foods. Bacteria get a lot of bad press but they don’t deserve it all – there are lots of bacteria that are very important for all living things on earth. Bacteria have learnt to live in every part of the earth, from the hottest, to the coldest, no matter how dangerous, so they have no problem living inside or on you.

Many of the bacteria you come into contact with every day are actually helpful!  But how do they help? Your body is full of helpful bacteria!  Many different bacteria live inside your gut and your body is happy to have them there.

Certain types of bacteria can actually clean up troublesome environmental pollutants like spilled petroleum. In fact, a specific strain called Alcanivorax drastically increases in population when an oil spill provides them with large amounts of food, so that they’re able to remove much of the oil. Many types of bacteria are actually helpful, some strains may hold the key to fighting global warming, cleaning up pollution, breaking down plastic and even developing a cure for cancer.

Cancer and bacteria don’t go well together – at least, when you’re talking about immune response. But one type of bacteria, called Clostridium sporogenes, may actually be used to thanks to its ability to target tumors. C. sporogenes will only grow in oxygen-depleted environments – like the center of solid tumors. When injected into a tumor log with cancer drugs, the bacteria can help the drugs kill the tumor cells without affecting healthy tissues.

Pasteur said it best, “Never underestimate the power of the microbe.”

There are many other uses of bacteria while there are harmful effects too. The advantages and disadvantages are infinite but uses are dominant over harmful effects.

 

By: Ammara Siddique

Tags: article, opinion, POWER OF A MICROBE

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