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Fungi feed themselves quite ably, absorbing nutrients from organic materials. Algae and cyanobacteria are also adept at providing for their own nutritional needs by turning sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. Yet many thousands of years ago, some fungi merged with some algae (or cyanobacteria in some cases) to create a new kind of partnership called a lichen. Some 20,000 different kinds of lichens live in such diverse habitats as the surfaces of rocks in arctic tundra and desert sands as well as the bark of trees in bayous and the sides of buildings. Energy is essential for our industrial society and microbes are important players in its production. A significant portion of natural gas comes from the past action of methanogens (methane-producing bacteria). Numerous bacteria are also capable of rapidly degrading oil in the presence of air and special precautions have to be taken during the drilling, transport and storage of oil to minimize their impact. In the future microbes may find utility in the direct production of energy. For example, many landfills and sewage treatment plants capture the methane produced by methanogens to power turbines that produce electricity. Excess grain, crop waste and animal waste can be used as nutrients for microbes that ferment this biomass into methanol or ethanol. These biofuels are presently added to gasoline and thus decreasing pollution. They may one-day power fuel cells in our cars, causing little pollution and having water as their only emission. Click on following items to see more information: Activated sludge, Antibacterial, Antibiotic, Antibacterial, Bacilli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacteremia, Bacterial, Bacterial, Bacterium, Biological reactor, C. albicans, Cell suspension, Clostridium, Cryptococcus, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli, E. coli, Enterobacter, Eubacteria, Yeast, Gram negative, Haemophilus, Lactobacilli, (mic), Bacterial, Bacterium, Multidrug resistance, Penicillin, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Salmonella, Schizosaccharomyces, Staphylococci, Staphylococci, Streptococcus, Thermophilic, Wastewater Smallpox was a feared disease throughout human history and justifiably so. It was highly contagious and almost everyone eventually became infected. Mortality rates were as high as 25% in adults and closer to 40% in children. Those who did survive often had scarring due to the blister-like pustules that form on the skin, but they obtained life-long immunity to the disease. As far back at the 11th century in India and China it was realized that liquid from the pustules of a smallpox victim, when scratched on the skin of a healthy patient, would most often cause mild disease. Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied to agricultural processes. An example would include an organism designed to grow under specific environmental conditions or in the presence (or absence) of certain agricultural chemicals. Green biotechnology tends to produce more environmentally friendly solutions then traditional industrial agriculture. An example of this would include a plant engineered to express a pesticide, thereby eliminating the need for external application of pesticides.
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Last modified: May 25, 2005
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