Good Bacteria for Humans

When we hear the word bacteria we imagine diseases and bad things. Just think of cholera, typhus, Salmonella, Clostridium, E. Coli, etc. However, there are good bacteria for humans. This article deals with bacteria that are being used to benefit humans.

What are bacteria?

Bacteria is a group of unicellular microscopic organisms which varies in size and shapes Bacteria are simple in organization. They have a nucleus (although they do have DNA), mitochondria, or other organelles.

As I said before bacteria are responsible for a lot of diseases. However, some of bacteria are being used for our benefit. They are being use for food production (breads, cultured milks, wines, beers, fermented foods, etc), water treatment (sewage), and drug production (biotechnology). Many bacteria are being researched as health promoting agents for humans.

Probiotics

Probiotics are defines as "live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit". Lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus) may function as probiotics, Health benefits of probiotics include: inhibition of Helicobacter pylori (responsible for gastritis and peptic ulcers), treatment of diarrhea in children, cancer prevention (colon cancer), blood pressure management, cholesterol managements, and improvement of colitis and IRB.

Bacteria use in agriculture

Some bacteria are used to increase crops yield and increase the efficiency of plant to utilize soil nitrogen. Others (for example, Bacillus thuringiensis) have insecticidal qualities. This helps farmer get rid of unwanted pests

Production of food

Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Streptococcus thermophilus are bneing used for the production of yogurt. Yogurt is a nutritionally great food with proteins, calcium and many vitamins. Yogurt production is simple and relatively fast to do even at home. S. cereviciae is used for bread production and making beers and wine.

Bacteria for water treatment

Sewage treatment is needed for to preserve the environment. Both anaerobic and anaerobic (no oxygen) bacteria are used for residual water treatment. A group of bacteria (nitrosomonas, for example) can be used to treat ammonia rich sewage to help get rid of it by converting to nitrate and by using other bacteria converting nirate to nitrogen which can be released directly to the environment.

Drug production through biotechnology

New drugs are being produced by using of the manufacturing machine of biological cells. Many bacteria are used for the production of drugs that aid in the treatment of many diseases. For example, modified strains of bacteria (E. coli ) are being used for the production insulin or antibiotics.

Sources:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0251e/T0251E14.htm

http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs.../en/probiotics.pdf