Human interactions with microbes
Human interactions with microbes include both practical and symbolic uses of
Practical use of microbes began in ancient times with fermentation in food processing; bread, beer and wine have been produced by yeasts from the dawn of civilisation, such as in ancient Egypt. More recently, microbes have been used in activities from biological warfare to the production of chemicals by fermentation, as industrial chemists discover how to manufacture a widening variety of organic chemicals including enzymes and bioactive molecules such as hormones and competitive inhibitors for use as medicines. Fermentation is used, too, to produce substitutes for fossil fuels in forms such as ethanol and methane; fuels may also be produced by algae. Anaerobic microorganisms are important in sewage treatment. In scientific research, yeasts and the bacterium Escherichia coli serve as model organisms especially in genetics and related fields.
On the symbolic side, an early poem about brewing is the
Microorganisms such as
Context
This article describes the roles played by microorganisms in human culture.Since microbes were not known until the
Practical uses
Food production
Controlled
Water treatment
Oxidative sewage treatment processes rely on microorganisms to oxidise organic constituents. Anaerobic microorganisms reduce sludge solids producing
Energy
Microorganisms are used in fermentation to produce ethanol,[9] and in biogas reactors to produce methane.[10] Scientists are researching the use of algae to produce liquid fuels,[11] and bacteria to convert various forms of agricultural and urban waste into usable fuels.[12]
Chemicals, enzymes
Microorganisms are used for many commercial and industrial purposes, including the production of chemicals,
Science
Microorganisms are essential tools in biotechnology, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. The yeasts brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) are important model organisms in science, since they are simple eukaryotes that can be grown rapidly in large numbers and are easily manipulated.[14] They are particularly valuable in genetics, genomics and proteomics, for example in protein production.[15][16][17][18] The easily cultured gut bacterium Escherichia coli, a prokaryote, is similarly widely used as a model organism.[19]
Endosymbiosis
Microbes can form an
Warfare
Pathogenic microbes, and toxins that they produce, have been developed as possible agents of warfare.[22] Crude forms of biological warfare have been practiced since antiquity.[23] In the 6th century BC, the Assyrians poisoned enemy wells with a fungus said to render the enemy delirious.[citation needed] In 1346, the bodies of Mongol warriors of the Golden Horde who had died of plague were thrown over the walls of the besieged Crimean city of Kaffa, possibly assisting the spread of the Black Death into Europe.[24][25][26][27] Advances in
The USA similarly explored biological warfare agents,Symbolic uses
Being very small, and unknown until the invention of the
In literature
The literary possibilities of
The making of beer has been celebrated in verse since the time of Ancient
Wine is a frequent topic in
The Microbe is a humorous 1912 poem by Hilaire Belloc, starting with the lines "The microbe is so very small / You cannot make him out at all,/ But many sanguine people hope / To see him through a microscope.[42] Microbes and Man is an admired "classic"[43] book, first published in 1969, by the "father figure of British microbiology"[44][45] John Postgate on the whole subject of microorganisms and their relationships with humans.[46]
In film
Microbes feature in many highly dramatized films.
In music
"
In art
Microbial art is the creation of artworks by culturing bacteria, typically on agar plates, to form desired patterns. These may be chosen to fluoresce under ultraviolet light in different colours.[52] Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, created "germ paintings" using different species of bacteria that were naturally pigmented in different colours.[53]
An instance of a
-
Microbes in theThames at Brentford and Hungerford. Arthur Hill Hassall, 1850
-
A BritishFirst World War microbiologist in his laboratory, examining a test tube of bacteria. Painted by James McBey, 1917
-
The Soviet Union 1966 stamp for the Microbiology International Congress. Bacteria and viruses form the background.
-
Beach scene with live bacteria in a Petri dish expressing different fluorescent proteins. Microbial art by Nathan Shaner, 2006
Negative interactions
Disease
Microorganisms are the causative agents (
The practice of hygiene was created to prevent infection or food spoiling by eliminating microbes, especially bacteria, from the surroundings.[57]
In agriculture and horticulture
Microorganisms including
The tulip breaking virus played a role in the tulip mania of the Dutch Golden Age. The famous Semper Augustus tulip, in particular, owed its striking pattern to infection with the plant disease, a kind of mosaic virus, making it the most expensive of all the tulip bulbs sold.[63]
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{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ISBN 978-1-118-68814-4.
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- ^ "A Very Cellular Song Lyrics". Metro Lyrics. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "From The Urgent To The Absurd, Musicians Take On The Coronavirus Through Song". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ "40 songs about the coronavirus pandemic. Listen here". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
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