When one thinks of bacteria, what comes to mind? Bacteria are single celled organisms whose main objective in life is to gather nutrient and reproduce asexually. They just grow and divide. Humans have very interesting interactions with bacteria. In our bodies we have one trillion cells that make us who we are. Outside and inside our bodies, we have 10 trillion bacterial cells that help us (dietary functions like making vitamins, creating a barrier against foreign/bad bacteria, helping our immune system, etc.). In terms of DNA, we have 30,000 genes. Bacteria in and on our bodies have about 300,000 genes. So really, we are more bacterial than human, proportionately speaking. Bonnie Bassler and her team worked to figure out just how these small organisms communicate with each other, and what they found is actually quite interesting. …show more content…
What they do is produce light (bioluminescence) that helps the squid camouflage itself at night. The squid has a special way of sensing how much moonlight is coming down, and then using a shutter, can control how much light comes out. This makes the squid not cast a shadow, making it harder for predators and prey to see it. During the day, the squid pumps out the dead bacteria, and the process starts again. What her team did was look at how these bacteria produced their light. When they were in a dilute solution with very few bacteria, then they did not produce light. But when there were many bacteria, they did produce light. The reason this happened is because the bacteria produce these chemical messengers called Quorums, which help the bacteria know how much of them there
ABSTRACT: Water samples from local ponds and lakes and snow runoff were collected and tested for coliform as well as Escherichia coli. Humans as well as animals come into contact with these areas, some are used for recreational activities such as swimming and some are a source of drinking water for both animals and humans The main goal of this experiment was to see which lakes, snow run off and ponds tested positive for coliform or Escherichia coli and to come up with some reasoning as to why. It was found that the more remote pond with less contact contained the most Escherichia coli. However, another lake that many swim in and use as their drinking water indeed tested positive for a small amount of Escherichia coli. The two samples from the snow showed negative results for both coliform and Escherichia coli and the two more public ponds that aren’t as commonly used as a source of human drinking water but animal drinking water tested in the higher range for coliforms but in the little to no Escherichia coli range. It was concluded that the remote pond should be avoided as it’s not a safe source of drinking water for humans or animals. Other than that, the the other ponds are likely to be safe from Escherichia coli, but coliforms are a risk factor.
Jennifer Ackerman's main focus in her article The Ultimate Social Network, is that of the functions concerning bacteria within humans. Although scientists have had presumptions about humans being proficient in governing their body’s innermost structure, they soon come to recognize the sophistication of our inner space which holds an extensive plethora of bacteria and other microorganisms that lie within each and every one of us. Moreover, scientists' new and emerging view of how the human body operates, and the cause of increasing present-day diseases (i.e. obesity and different autoimmune disorders) are uncovered by analyzing effects of certain microbe species in our bodies. By italicizing on points such as the above, in conjunction with bacteria's genetic variations, and modern computing technology, the author proves that scientists are quickly progressing with the characterization the most prevalent species of microbes, which, in her opinion, is definitely paying off.
our everyday lives bacteria is constantly surrounding us, some of the bacterium that we encounter are beneficial to us but then there are the ones that are severely detrimental to our health. The way that they effect a persons body can differ from person to person. Many of the “microscopic foes” are very resilient and have a very fast reproduction rate. Not only do they reproduce quickly they sometimes seem to outsmart our immune system and not allow our bodies to fight the infection making it almost impossible to stop them. One thing that a lot if people rely on is the assistance of prescription drugs to get them better but even the drugs are not being effective and we can’t stop the pathogens from invading our personal places such as work, home, school, or anywhere. Even though modern medicine is advancing the pathogens could still get the get the best of us. The scary thing is we never know when the next pandemic or epidemic is going to arise. All it needs is some ordinary microbe to swap genes with a deadly germ to produce a “super pathogen” and it could happen to anyone, anywhere, as it did to Jeannie Brown who is from “our neck of the woods”.
...standing the nature of relationship between the residing microbes inside human cells and about their function is very important to put an end to this war and to live in peace with the natural organisms that are benefitting human body and their survival has become our primary importance.
In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.
The deep sea is one of the most hostile environments in the world, which a living organism is subjected to. As you progress from the surface (the epipelagic zone) through to the abyssopelagic zone near the basin of the ocean; the environmental characteristics begin to alter dramatically. Light, pressure, oxygen, temperature and food are abiotic factors that have all led to the fascinating adaptations of deep sea life. Pressure alone increases by 1 atmosphere for each 10m in depth which is an astonishing rate. The deep sea temperature remains between 2-4°c, which is just another factor inhabitants must overcome in order to survive, along with a reduced quantity and accessibility of essential factor’s like ;oxygen, food and light[3].
Cooperation between species can frequently be described as some form of symbiosis. Symbiosis is the advantage gained by one or both parties though their interactions that take place in close proximity. Almost all species participate in a symbiotic relationship unknowingly. One of the most common forms of symbiosis is ectosymbiosis where a symbiont lives in the digestive tracks or on the surface of the host. The frequency of this relationship can be attributed to countless bacteria-host interactions that take place. Helpful bacteria can always be found in the digestive tracks of animals helping digest and process food injected by organisms. In the relationship between bacteria and humans, both the bacteria and human are beneficiaries. The human benefits by being able to digest food with the bacteria’s aid and the bacteria benefits by have a stable nutrient source from the food ingested by the person. In order for this relationship to be possible, both parties must have had to adapt to accommodate the other. In the example between bacteria and humans, the bacteria must have evolved a resistance to stomach acid to avoid being killed and humans must have evolved a immune system that will not attack specific foreign organisms such as the
Bacterial cells, like plant cells, are surrounded by a cell wall. However, bacterial cell walls are made up of polysaccharide chains linked to amino acids, while plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, which contains no amino acids. Many bacteria secrete a slimy capsule around the outside of the cell wall. The capsule provides additional protection for the cell. Many of the bacteria that cause diseases in animals are surrounded by a capsule. The capsule prevents the white blood cells and antibodies from destroying the invading bacterium. Inside the capsule and the cell wall is the cell membrane. In aerobic bacteria, the reactions of cellular respiration take place on fingerlike infoldings of the cell membrane. Ribosomes are scattered throughout the cytoplasm, and the DNA is generally found in the center of the cell. Many bacilli and spirilla have flagella, which are used for locomotion in water. A few types of bacteria that lack flagella move by gliding on a surface. However, the mechanism of this gliding motion is unknown. Most bacteria are aerobic, they require free oxygen to carry on cellular respiration. Some bacteria, called facultatibe anaerobes can live in either the presence or absence of free oxygen. They obtain energy either by aerobic respiration when oxygen is present or by fermentation when oxygen is absent. Still other bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. These are called obligate anaerobes. Such bacteria obtain energy only fermentation. Through fermentation, different groups of bacteria produce a wide variety of organic compounds. Besides ethyl alcohol and lactic acid, bacterial fermentation can produce acetic acid, acetone, butyl alcohol, glycol, butyric acid, propionic acid, and methane, the main component of natural gas. Most bacteria are heterotrophic bacteria are either saprophytes or parasites. Saprophytes feed on the remains of dead plants and animals, and ordinarily do not cause disease. They release digestive enzymes onto the organic matter. The enzymes breakdown the large food molecules into smaller molecules, which are absorbed by the bacterial cells. Parasites live on or in living organisms, and may cause disease. A few types of bacteria are Autotrophic, they can synthesize the organic nutrients they require from inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria are either photosynthetic or Chemosynthetic. The photosynthetic bacteria contain chlorophyll that are different from the plant chlorophyll. In bacterial photosynthesis, hydrogen is obtained by the splitting of compounds other than water.
The crew threw harpoons at the creature, but those would not stay in the flesh for long. When the crew got close enough to put a noose around the creature, the rope tightened and cut through the animal, causing most of it to sink to the bottom of the sea. The crew, however, managed to pull the tail of the creature on board, and bring it back to the French Consul. From there, the tail and a report about the creature made its way to the French Academy of Sciences. Giant squid, of which there are many different species, have been spotted less than fifty times in the last century, but none have been seen in their natural habitat, the depths of the sea, or caught on tape.
They’re out there! You can’t see them but they can see you. Right at this very moment they are living on and in your body, and there is nothing you can do about it!
I am writing this research paper on the differences and similarities between bacteria, viruses, and prions. In this paper I will define each of the subjects that I am comparing and tell and show you how they are different and how they are similar. I will also tell you about their structure, how they reproduce, and a disease that is caused by each of them.
Microbes are microscopic life forms, usually too small to be seen by the naked eye. Although many microbes are single-celled, there are also numerous multi-cellular organisms. The human body has 10-100 trillion microbes living on it, making it one giant super-organism. Since the first link between microbes and diseases was made, people have been advised to wash their hands. Scientists, however, have recently started to investigate more closely how the microbes that call the human body home affect our health. While some microbes cause disease, others are more beneficial, working with our bodies in many subtle ways.
The term “microbiology” refers to the branch of study that deals with microorganisms. Microbiology is extremely important in today’s time for the crucial information that the study provides. Human’s have had a long and cruel history of disease and sickness, for example the bubonic plague, but microbiology gives scientists the ability to observe, study, and prevent sickness like the bubonic plague to ever happen again. At the center of microbiology lies the bacterial cell, one that differs from those of a plant or animal because it lacks a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles which, in turn are traded for pili, flagella, and in some cases a cell capsule. Bacteria that are capable of causing illness or disease are called pathogens, pathogens work by releasing toxins in the body or directly damaging the host’s cells. An article by Lise Wilkinson explains that the earliest categorizations of bacterial cells first occurred in the late eighteen-hundreds to the early nineteen-hundreds by scientists (at the time) O. Muller and C. Ehrenburg (Wilkinson, 2004). The observation and identification of unknown bacteria that emerge is crucial because these new bacteria might be pathogenic and cause illness so it is very important that the bacteria is identified as soon as possible in order to either prevent the upcoming illness or treat it. While the common person is unable to identify if they are carrying bacteria (which is very likely), specialized tests that are ran in a lab can identify different types of bacteria and can even help
When you hear the word bacteria the first thing that might come to mind would be a germ. Although there can be many harmful types of bacteria, it is an essential part of life. Bacterium is all over...
Their flesh gradually becomes clear and their white skeleton becomes visible. Moreover, their whole body would be covered by fuzzy microalgae.