Microbiology at a Glance  “Scope and Relevance of Microbes” Blog | UCBMSH – Paramedical Degree courses college in Dehradun ( Doon ) , Uttarakhand , India .

“We live in the world of Microbes”. Microorganisms live in every part of the biosphere, including soil, hot springs, “Seven miles deep” in the ocean, “40 miles high” in the atmosphere and inside the rocks far down within the earth’s crusts.

Microbiology is a broad term and the Microbes / micro-organisms are mostly microscopic small creatures are placed in different groups such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, micro-algae, Actinomycetes and viruses. Microbiology and microorganisms lives in soil, water, food, in environment, dead and decaying matter, in organic and inorganic waste, animal intestines and other different environment and play an important role in Medical, Clinical, environmental, in soil, in forest, in agriculture, in industry, in water/aquatic environment. Microbes are also ecofriendly.

Microorganisms are very essential in pharmaceutical industry. They are useful in the production of enzymes, vitamins, protein, antibiotics, beverages and vaccine preparation. Men used some of microbial diversity in the production of fermented foods such as bread, yogurt, and cheese. Some soil microbes release nitrogen that plants need for growth and emit gases that maintain the critical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere. The interest creates in career and the scope in Industrial Microbiology, Microbial Biotechnology, Fermentation Reaction and medical Microbiology.

Microbial biotechnology is an important area that promotes for advances in food safety, food security, value-added products, human nutrition and functional foods, plant and animal protection, and overall fundamental research in the agricultural sciences.

Mushrooms, the fruiting bodies of microorganisms that live on decaying lignocellulosic compounds in soil, are highly prized as food by nearly all human societies, as well as by many animals, including insects.

Micro-organisms found in the soil to improve agricultural productivity. Men use naturally occurring microrganisms to develop biofertilizers, bio-pesticides, Bio-herbicides, Bioinsecticides, Fungal- bioinsecticides, Virus-Based Bioinsecticides, to assist plant growth and control weeds, pests, and diseases. Micro-organisms that live in the soil actually help plants to absorb more nutrients. Plants and these friendly microbes are involved in “nutrient recycling”. The microbes help the plant to “take up” essential energy sources. In return, plants donate their waste by-products for the microbes to use for food. Scientists use these friendly micro-organisms to develop natural biofertilizers. It creates interest of particular in Agriculture Microbiology to make profession and career.

 

Microbes and disease

A few harmful microbes, for example less than 1 % of bacteria, can invade our body (the host) and make us ill. It creates interest of students to go through for their career in clinical Microbiology/ Medical Microbiology/ Diagnostic Microbiology.

Some Fecal coliform bacteria like E.coli & Enterococcus (Enteric disease, food poisioning), Salmonella typhi (typhoid), Vibrio cholarae (cholera) causes disease in human being and indicate the presence in aquatic environment. Human Micro biome Projects creates interest to analyzing microbes to play a role in health and disease.

Microorganisms are the cause of many infectious diseases. The organisms involved include pathogenic bacteria, causing diseases such as plague, tuberculosis and anthrax; protozoa, causing diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, dysentery and toxoplasmosis; and also fungi causing diseases such as ringworm, candidiasis or histoplasmosis. However, other diseases such as influenza, yellow fever or AIDS are caused by pathogenic viruses, which are not usually classified as living organisms and are not, therefore, microorganisms by the strict definition.

MICROBES IN INDUSTRY

Industrial microbiology is an area of applied microbiology which deals with screening, improvement, management and exploitation of microorganisms for the production of various useful end products on a large scale. Areas of industrial microbiology include quality assurance for the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Industrial microbiologists may also be responsible for air and plant contamination, health of animals used in testing products, and discovery of new organisms and pathways. For instance, most antibiotics come from microbial fermentations involving a group of organisms called Actinomycetes. Other organisms such as yeasts are used in baking, in the production of alcohol for beverages, and in fuel production (gasohol). Additional groups of microorganisms form products that range from organic acids to enzymes used to create various sugars, amino acids, and detergents. For example, the sweetener aspartame is derived from amino acids produced by microorganisms.

Industrial microbiologists may also deal with products associated with the food and dairy industries, with the prevention or deterioration of processed or manufactured goods, and with waste disposal systems.

Industrial Microbiologists work on the utilization of microbes in the manufacturing of food and industrial products, such as pharmaceuticals, food, beverage, and chemical, and energy example- like Production of Antibiotics/Antimicrobials, Vaccines, Health-care products, Foods/Beverages produced by microbial activity, Enzymes, Carbohydrates, Organic chemicals, Oil recovery/mining, Contamination control, Waste and wastewater management.

The careers are open in all field/stream in Microbiology and creates interest in microbes for students, academicians, researchers, industrialist and scientist to work out more in the field of science and technology, in the field of research and in the field of academics for the betterment of life .

 

Submitted By-

Neelam Bamola

Head of Department

Department of Microbiology

Uttaranchal ( P.G) College of Biomedical Sciences & Hospital

Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India