Ignorance and indifference.

The continuation of a yesterday's essay.

Some people think it would be great if scientists could wipe out all the microbial 'pests'. Should we do it, and why or why not?
It's true that some microbes cause health problems, such as strepthroat, chickenpox and the common cold. Unfortunately, because a small number of microbes cause disease, all microbes have gotten a bad rap.

It seems only a few bad microbes get almost all the press. You just don't hear as much about all the many good things microbes do every day.

Lactobacillus Acidophilus is one of the bacteria gang wanted for turning milk into yogurt. Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, better known as "Baker's Yeast" is used for making bread rise. Streptomyces is a soil bacteria used for making Streptomycin, a antibiotic used to treat infections. Pseudomonas Putida is one of many microbes used for cleaning waste matter from sewage water at water treatment plants.
Escherichia Coli is one of many kinds of microbes that live in your gut. It helps you digest your food every day. Arbuscular Mycorrhizas is in the soil-living fungus family. It helps crops take up nutrients from the soil. Bacillus Thuringiensis, our final example, is a common soil bacterium. It is a natural pest-killer in gardens and on crops.

There are many other important jobs microbes do. They are used to mke medicine. They break down the oil from oil spills. They make about half of the oxygen we breathe. They are the foundation of the food chain that feeds all life on earth.

In short, microbes are much more our friends than our enemies.