Microbes In Human Welfare

The tiny living organisms that can not be seen with the naked eye are called microorganisms or microbes. These can only be seen under a microscope, and hence the name microorganisms have been given to them. Some microorganisms are single-celled like bacteria, some algae and protozoa, while some are multicellular like many algae and fungi. Microbes can live in all types of environments, from ice cold to hot and deserts to marshy lands. There can be both harmful and useful microorganisms. The harmful microbes are called pathogens. The useful ones are harmless to humans, and in fact, there is a significant role of microbes in human welfare.

Role Of Microbes In Human Welfare

Microorganisms play a significant role in our lives. Some of them are beneficial in a number of ways. From making curd and alcohol to cleaning up the environment, from commercial to medicinal industry, microbes are useful in many fields. Some names of useful microorganisms are Lactobacillus bacteria, yeast and antibiotics such as streptomycin, tetracycline and erythromycin. Microorganisms act as beneficial elements in the following fields: 

Production of bread and curd

Curd consists of several microorganisms. The Lactobacillus bacterium results in the formation of curd from milk. It multiplies in the milk and converts it into curd. Bacteria are also involved in the production of cheese, pickles and many food products. Yeast helps in the production of bread. It reproduces rapidly and produces carbon dioxide through respiration. Bubbles of carbon dioxide fill-up the dough and increase its volume. Thus, yeast is used in the baking industry for making pastries and cakes etc.

Commercial and Medicinal Benefits

Useful microorganisms are utilized to produce alcohol, wine and vinegar on a commercial scale. For this purpose, yeast is developed on natural sugars in grains such as wheat, barley, rice, fruit juices etc. The process of conversion of sugar to alcohol is called fermentation.

Useful microorganisms are also the source of antibiotic medicines. These medicines destroy or put an end to the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Nowadays, many antibiotic medicines are being produced from fungi and bacteria. Streptomycin, tetracycline and erythromycin are some examples of the commonly used antibiotics prepared from fungi and bacteria. The antibiotics are produced by developing specific microorganisms and are used to treat a number of diseases. They are also used to treat diseases in plants. Antibiotics can also be mixed with livestock feed and poultry to treat pathogenic infections in animals.

Bacteria are also present in the human body and provide aid in many body functions. For example, they help in digestion by secretion of certain enzymes. The useful bacteria are also responsible for producing vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting. They also prevent against infection of pathogenic microbes that enter the body and cause infection.

Soil Fertility and Environment Cleaning

Some useful bacteria can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere to enrich the soil with nitrogen and improve its fertility. These microbes are commonly known as biological nitrogen fixers.

Large volumes of dead organic matter such as decaying plants and dead animals disappear after some time. This is because the microorganisms decompose dead organic waste of plants and animals, converting them into simple substances. The plant waste is converted to manure. In this process, nutrients are released, which can be used by other plants and animals. Hence we see that microorganisms are useful in degrading harmful and foul-smelling substances and thereby cleaning up the environment.

Vaccines

If a pathogenic microbe enters our body that can cause infection, our body produces antibodies to fight the pathogen. These antibodies remember how to fight the microbe if it enters again. If dead or weakened pathogenic microbes are administered into a healthy body, the body fights and destroys the invading bacteria by forming suitable antibodies. The antibodies remain in the body and are ready to fight and destroy the pathogen if it enters the body again. In this way, we are protected from the disease-causing microorganisms forever. This is the working of a vaccine. Several diseases, including cholera, tuberculosis, smallpox, polio and hepatitis and in recent times, covid-19, can be prevented by vaccination. These days vaccines are made on a large scale from microbes to protect humans and other animals from several diseases.

Conclusion:

The tiny living organisms that can not be seen with the naked eye are called microorganisms or microbes. These can be both useful as well as harmful. The useful ones are harmless to humans, and in fact, there is a significant role of microbes in human welfare. They are helpful in the production of bread and curd, commercial production of alcohol and vinegar, production of antibiotic medicines for the treatment of diseases, improving soil fertility and cleaning up the environment by decomposing dead plants and animals, production of vaccines against a number of diseases and many human body functions such as digestion and vitamin K formation.