July 12, 2025
Agriculture
Microbes – Friend or Foe
Approximately 4 billion years ago, even before the era of gigantic reptiles, the first form of life appeared on Earth.
A prokaryote is a unicellular organism that lacks a membrane-bound nucleus, mitochondria, or any other membrane-bound organelle.
It was a time when the Earth was not a welcoming place.
With no ozone layer to filter out ultraviolet sunlight, the atmosphere was full of toxic chemicals from various volcanic eruptions and the continuous barrage of objects from space to Earth.
Prokaryotes survived despite Earth being a terrible host and continue to do so to this day.
Prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria and archaea, still thrive in extreme habitats, ranging from boiling geothermal vents to the frozen regions of Antarctica.
Like all living and non-living things, human beings have been in constant contact with microorganisms.
However, it took centuries for us to become aware of their presence.
Although Robert Hooke was the first person to observe the presence of microorganisms, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is known as the father of microbiology for his most celebrated contribution: the microscope.
A merchant by profession, Leeuwenhoek was fascinated by lenses from a young age.
Throughout his life, he crushed an enormous amount of glass to make lenses, ultimately leading to his invention of the microscope, through which Leeuwenhoek observed microscopic organisms that he named ‘animalcules.’
He was also the first person to accurately describe fungi, bacteria, and protozoa.
After Leeuwenhoek, microbiology remained relatively stagnant for many years as scientists continued to debate the phenomenon of the genesis of life.
The phenomenon states that life forms, such as worms and grubs, can appear from non-living matter, like beef broth.
Francesco Redi and Lazzaro Spallanzani were the two scientists who showed the world that if broth is covered, maggots cannot infect it.
Later in the 1800s, a scientist named Louis Pasteur shattered many long-held beliefs when he demonstrated the world’s understanding of the influence of bacteria in souring wine and dairy.
With his Germ Theory, Pasteur posited that microorganisms were the primary cause of all infectious diseases in humans.
Pasteur failed to prove his theory, but it was later proved right by Robert Koch.
In his experiments with anthrax bacilli and mice, he demonstrated that mice develop anthrax when injected with the bacilli.
Koch’s discovery was a revolution, as many scientists around the world started working on different diseases.
Their efforts collectively resulted in a new pathogen being added to the list every month.
Those were the days when the human mortality rate was higher than the birth rate.
Notorious epidemics like the black death, Spanish influenza, and malaria took a rampant toll on humanity.
This led people to believe that microorganisms are nothing but tiny monsters whose sole purpose is to destroy humankind.
However, even today, when we know so much more about the positives that microbes bring to our lives, we’re still only scratching the surface of our understanding.
While on one side, there are microbes geared to attack our bodies, on the other, there are microbes on our bodies that are prepared to protect us against those attacks.
When a baby is born, millions of bacteria stick to her body, forming an invisible envelope – the commensal or normal flora of the human body.
Throughout our lives, microflora on our body synthesize a range of chemicals, enzymes, acids, and proteins, and, more importantly, they act to protect us from many invading pathogens.
Our body is constantly at war with disease-causing agents, and our body flora serves as our defensive shield.
However, a shield alone is never enough to win a war; one must have a sword.
In the battle against pathogens, antibiotics are our most powerful defense.
Antibiotics are compounds synthesized by fungi or bacteria that either kill or inhibit the growth of infections.
I have always been fascinated by the fact that the discovery of this revolution in medicine was a mere accident.
One fine day in 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory from a family vacation.
In one of his experimental Petri dishes, Sir Fleming saw something unusual – a dead zone of bacteria surrounding a fungal zone.
His investigations led him to conclude that the fungi released certain chemicals, which resulted in the death of bacteria.
The compound he accidentally discovered is, in fact, penicillin.
Penicillin was the first broad-spectrum antibiotic discovered and purified, which can be used to treat infections in various parts of the body, including the mouth and throat, skin and soft tissue, tonsils, heart, lungs, and ears.
Penicillin was named the ‘Wonder Drug of WWII’ as it saved millions of lives and prevented many amputations during the war.
What started with Penicillin led scientists to the discovery of hundreds of new antibiotics.
Today, we have a vast range of antibiotics, including sulfonamides, cephalosporins, and tetracyclines, which effectively cure a wide variety of major infections.
However, with time and the overuse of antibiotics, even for minor infections, pathogens developed drug resistance and became immune to increasingly stronger antibiotics.
Infections have become more dangerous and life-threatening as they do not respond to therapy.
One of the reasons for pathogens developing drug resistance is a phenomenon known as Quorum Sensing.
In catastrophic conditions, such as antibiotic action, chatty bacteria come together and release chemicals that help them communicate with each other.
In response to these chemicals, they form a tough intermediate structure that enables them to withstand unfavourable environmental conditions.
This bacterial layer, known as biofilm, is responsible for the destruction of water reservoirs and poses a threat to human life.
Recently, scientists have developed techniques to utilize quorum sensing and biofilms for various applications, including cancer detection, biocontrol, prevention of biofouling, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
The power of microbes extends to the plant kingdom as well.
Microbes are ubiquitous: they are present in air, water, and soil.
Microbes from the soil nourish plants by building a healthy ecosystem around their roots.
Through various biochemical processes, they fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, which is essential for plant growth and development.
Phosphorus is another essential element required for plant nutrition.
Bacteria and fungi in the soil convert phosphate into a form that is consumable by plants.
Furthermore, certain bacteria and fungi establish a symbiotic association with plant roots, in which they colonise the roots.
This helps plants absorb more nutrients from the soil and provides microbes with shelter and waste products as their food source.
- Also Read: The Bioremediation Imperative
With the advancement of technology, scientists have developed innovative products, including biofertilizers and biopesticides.
These crop-specific products not only help with higher yield but also provide crops with immunity from notorious pests.
All over the world, farmers are facing the problem of infertile soil.
With the advent of chemical fertilizers, it was like hitting the mother lode – higher yields.
This led to the uncontrolled use of chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers.
Over the years, these synthetic chemicals have accumulated in the land, degrading its quality.
This affected everything – from plants to animal life to humans.
DNA damage, loss of variety, and the emergence of cancer are just some ways in which we continue to pay the price.
Just like our phones, Mother Earth needs a restore button, and that button is bioremediation.
Through bioremediation, the quality of polluted lands and water bodies can be restored to their original state with the help of microbes.
Microorganisms can break down complex organic compounds, such as hydrocarbons, into simpler products, namely carbon dioxide and water.
A little help from genetic engineering and biotechnology can boost the degrading ability of microbes.
When such modified microbes are applied to polluted water bodies or agricultural lands, they degrade chemicals present in the surroundings and ultimately restore them to their natural state.
Just like our Indian gods, microbes are present everywhere!
From our health to growing pollution, microorganisms have better solutions for most problems posed to mankind.
A debate over companionship with microbes becomes meaningless when we consider their potential to provide sustainable solutions that guarantee a better future for us and the generations that follow.
This post first appeared on LinkedIn.
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