Mice and Microbes

In Canada, microbial scientists studied the microbial community in mice’s guts. They found that just like in humans microbes outnumber out cells 10 to 1. When they introduced new microbes into the mice’s gut, it didn't always result in something good, it turns out they got an infection, which resulted in death by diarrhea. It sounds very bad, because it is. This study didn't give an exact number of how many mice they went through like they were just endless. The worst thing they found out was when they introduced the pathogen Citrobacter rodentium which caused bad inflammation and again, death by diarrhea.  From this study they were able to see which microbes do what to mice and ways to treat them with antibiotics so they are able to learn more about treatment with antibiotics and how to use them more effectively, though it seems like they just killed mice by giving them diarrhea, they actually got vital information and knowledge in the field of microbiology.

Why microbes are smarter than you though!

Microbes are the majority of species on Earth. Little single celled intelligent beings. The article I read was very generalized yet hit on some great key points. Microbes can actually talk to each other! Not like you an I can, but in a much cooler way, via chemicals! One of the coolest things I found out was that microbes can actually sense how many of their species there are near them, its called quorum sensing. If there isn't enough room for more they won't continue to split. Unless it's a pathogen and needs to cause some havoc by over crowding the area causing the immune system to go into shock sometimes. One of the other many cool parts was that microbes live in microscopic co-ops, that are in fact gigantic to them. Like in class, this article told how microbes like to gather in places such as the gut.  They actually use other microbes waste as ones food! its crazy how complex these small communities are! microbes can also adapt quite fast! especially E. Coli actually mutates more under stress, thats not good with the current train of events happening in the world! Every living thing always navigates whether it's a tree's roots looking for water, or a lion looking for prey. What is super cool is so do microbes! P. Polycephalum is a crazy microbe that can actually find the shortest past through an obstacle! i would love to take them to the corn maze! Do microbes have brains? not technically. But they do have memory and can learn things! they can remember if they made a right or left turn, or what kind of sugar or food they need to have next! its crazy how complex microbes are! I would love to be one for a day!

Can We Handle An Attack???

Can we handle a bioterrorism attack on America? I say no. After the 2001 anthrax letters America tightened up and decided to research ways to prevent such a scenario. This country has spent a lot of money trying to research it and also find ways to prevent attacks. In 2002, America spent millions of tax payers dollars on labs and scientists to research such a thing. Did tax payers know this is what they helped pay for? Most likely not. But is it for the common good of humanity? After reading an article entitled "Antrax Case Renews Questions on Bioterror" published in 2008, I have formulated my own opinion to this, Microbes such as Antrax, are too powerful. A scholar from Stanford calculated that if two pounds of anthrax spores were dropped over an American city, it would kill over 100,000 people, even if antibiotics were spread as fast as they can. These microbes can wipe out entire communities, ecosystems, and basically anything. This world started with microbes and with some human help they can end the world. My solution to the problem? Simple. Stop access to deadly microbes if possible, get rid of all the people trying to use microbes for bioterrorism, and last but not least if an attack happens your best bet to do is let the microbe take its course and avoid every person so they can't contract what you sadly got.


Resources: "Anthrax Case Renews Questions on Bioterror" by Eric Lipton and Scott Shane published August  third, 2008, New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/us/03anthrax.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

The Enemy Within

Plague Time is a book by Paul W. Ewald and is the main topic of the article I read. The book is about the complex relationships between humans and the microbial. The author of the article is by Julie Parsonnet,  a Sanford University school of medicine graduate who works for Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine. The article mainly focuses on what makes this book Plague Time bad, such as its broadness; which results in overstatements with the many categories Ewald took on. Parsonnet does give Ewald credit for the work he has done and the information he gathered, but goes strongly against some things he has to say; such as the statement that Edwal put in his book saying “a mix of environmental and genetic factors [play a role in every disease].” Pasonnet argues that some diseases are strictly genetic and no environmental factors take role. Personally I agree with Pasonnet because of how complex our DNA is. I feel as if a microbe, or in many cases microbes, can cause the onset, worsening, or even cease to diseases. People though out the world all have their own idea of what roles microbes play in the role of diseases, but no one can ever know, since there is not a clean human to be tested on. Scientists can test on rats, monkeys, mice, and even gorillas but the fact is we do not have the exact DNA of humans, who are also clean, and in an area microbe free. The most intresting part of this article was the fact that it turns out worms have more DNA than us humans, but our DNA is thought to be more complex.

Works Cited: 

Plague Time: How Stealth Infections Cause Cancers, Heart Disease, and Other Deadly Ailments. Paul W. Ewald. vi + 288 pp. The Free Press, 2000. $25.

The Enemy Within. Julie Parsonnet. Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine