Not all are disgusting
You may find the title of this blog a little weird, as to the uninitiated bacteria are either associated with disease or the dirty process of the decomposition of food.
In actual fact only about 30% of the thousands of types of bacteria cause disease directly and what is less known is their benefit to the Eco-system and human health.
What is less known is that without bacteria life on earth would not exist, they contribute to about 40% of the world’s oxygen via photosynthesis, along with other single celled organism classed as plankton. Bacteria are a large group of single-celled organisms. They are the most primitive organisms in existence outside of viruses, but there is some debate as to how to classify viruses. They were the first organisms to appear on the earth approximately 3 billion years ago.
Bacteria exist in practically any environment from the Arctic, to the bottom of sea sea. They exist in super hot geysers in Yellowstone Park and in the mouth of volcanoes. They have even been proven to survive in a vacuum, leading to speculation that life first arrived on meteors or asteroids from space.
A History
Bacteria began on Earth approximately 3.5 billion ago, about 2 billion years before other life forms appeared, appearing at a time when the Earth’s atmosphere consisted mostly of sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, much like the atmosphere of Venus.
Approximately 2.5 billion years some bacteria evolved a step and became what are called cyanobacteria. Cyan means “blue/green”, they were the first organisms to produce food by photosynthesis and were the ancestors of blue/green algae, which are now favoured by many as a Whole Green Super Food.
Over the next 1.5 billion years there occurred what scientists refer to as “the first great mass extinction”. The cyanobacteria gradually oxygenated the atmosphere, rendering hundreds of thousands of species of bacteria extinct.
They did however create the atmosphere making it possible for all life on earth as we know it to exist.
More on bacteria
Bacteria are scientifically known as prokaryotes and are a group of primitive organisms that lack a cell nucleus or any other membrane.
They differ from other more advanced single celled organisms such as amoeba, which have a cell nucleus.
Types of Bacteria:
Parasitic Bacteria: These are bacteria that enter the body and feed off it to the detriment of the person. It isn’t the bacteria themselves that harm a person, its just that they multiply rapidly and excrete toxins which damage the body tissues. The damage they do depends on the toxicity of the toxins and how important an area of body the bacteria favours.
Saprophytic Bacteria: Feed on dead things and break them down. Are generally harmless unless you ingest rotting food, then they can multiply in the body and secrete toxins.
Symbiotic Bacteria: Live inside a body and are of benefit to that organism. Probiotics are the best example of this. They live in the body and protect against harmful organisms, boost the immune system and help with digestion If you are interested Probiotics, visit this website:
There is lots more information there.
Bacteria as a Food Source.
One type of Cyanobaceria is edible, it is called Spirulina and is consumed in parts of South America and Africa, it is also widely sold as a super nutritious whole green food. For lots more information on Spirulina go to this website:
Bacteria as a renewable fuel source
Cyanobacteria is rich in oil. It grows in almost any conditions and in the right conditions 3 crops a month can be grown. Once a viable way of extracting the oil is found cyanbacteria may be a source of renewable fuel for the future.
