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Free Download TTC - The Hidden Power of Microbes
Released 11/2024
By Melissa Booth, PhD Science Communicator, The Science Communicator
MP4 | Video: h264, 1280x720 | Audio: AAC, 44.1 KHz, 2 Ch
Genre: eLearning | Language: English | Duration: 24 Lessons ( 10h 27m ) | Size: 8.65 GB
Before the invention of the microscope, the oldest and most widespread forms of life on Earth were totally unknown to humans, even though human life is completely dependent on them. Not only that, but this invisible domain substantially outweighs all animals and humans combined, comprising some one-sixth of the living biomass on Earth.
We are talking about the world of microbes-microscopic life forms that include bacteria, fungi, and other tiny entities such as archaea, protists, and viruses. Microbes may have a bad reputation because a small fraction of them are associated with diseases, but they are overwhelmingly beneficial to humans and the environment. Consider these crucial functions they perform
Digestion: Initiated by enzymes, digestion is an intricate process controlled largely by microbes, which break down complex molecules, synthesize essential vitamins, boost immune response, and protect against pathogens.
Nitrogen Fixation: Nitrogen is key to all life. Fortunately, the atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen gas. Unfortunately, atmospheric nitrogen is largely non-reactive and can't be directly absorbed by most organisms. This is where microbes come into play, converting it into usable ammonia through a process called nitrogen fixation.
Industry: From fermentation in food and beverage production to pharmaceutical synthesis, pest control, environmental cleanup, genetic engineering, biofuel processing, and much more, microbes are indispensable participants in the global economy.
Since the number of microbes, including viruses, in and on your body is more than 10 times the number of your human cells, you might consider yourself a walking microbiome-which is an excellent reason to learn as much as possible about these organisms. In The Hidden Power of Microbes, acclaimed science educator Dr. Melissa Booth mounts an expedition through the microbial realm, exploring every facet of this teeming, unseen ecosystem.
In 24 information-packed lectures, Dr. Booth covers the major types of microbes, the history of their discovery, their evolution and physiology, their role in human health and disease, their importance in agriculture and industry, their ubiquity in every corner of nature, and the possibility that they even exist beyond Earth.
Take a Microbe's Point of View
To help you explore the incredible impact of microbes, Dr. Booth introduces a fictional character named Lina. Throughout the course, you follow Lina's experiences with the tiny organisms that she encounters and that colonize her-from birth through adulthood. It's Lina's life story from a microbe's point of view. For example, in her earliest years, Lina goes from virtually zero exposure to microorganisms to a wholesale invasion
The Starting Gun: At birth, Lina faces a deluge of microbes, and the formation of her personal microbiome begins. This process will regulate her digestion, support her immune system, influence her metabolism, and affect her mood and cognitive development.
Viruses: Usually thought of as harmful, viruses are mostly benign or actively helpful, and Lina quickly acquires her mother's viruses as well as those from the environment. She soon develops her own distinctive "virome" that is as unique as a fingerprint.
Allergies and Asthma: Lina grows up on a farm, where the great microbial diversity gives her a lower risk of developing allergies and asthma than for urban dwellers. For city folk, the remedy is lots of fresh air, fresh foods, and avoiding needless antibiotics.
You check in with Lina periodically-at one point probing the mixed signals at the micro level that give her an ear infection, a common ailment among children that follows a surprisingly complex scenario in the ear's Eustachian tube. Later, you meet Lina's young friend who develops a drug-resistant infection after a simple injury. Since antibiotics have little effect, his best hope may be a microbe that can defeat a microbe-in this case, a bacteriophage, a type of virus that preys on specific bacteria. And, you follow Lina into adulthood, when she becomes an environmental health engineer, specializing in disease prevention and using microorganisms to neutralize pollutants.
Revelations and Riddles
In ancient times, physicians occasionally speculated that tiny, unseen agents might be responsible for diseases, but they were ignored. It wasn't until the 19th century that scientists with microscopes identified minute particles as the causes of cholera, potato blight, puerperal fever, and other diseases. Since then, researchers with ever more sophisticated tools have mapped the remarkable universe of microorganisms. In The Hidden Power of Microbes you trace many of their discoveries, as well as some outstanding mysteries
Antibiotics: Derived from a fungus that kills a wide range of bacteria, penicillin was the original antibiotic. Other antibiotics, like bacitracin, come from bacteria in soil. The human gut itself is home to many microbes with antibacterial properties.
Ulcer Breakthrough: Scientists once believed that no microbes could survive the stomach's acidic environment. However, two Australian researchers discovered a resilient bacterium, linking it to stomach ulcers-a finding that earned them a Nobel Prize.
"Dark Matter": Just as with the invisible "dark" matter in the universe, the microworld harbors a vast, unknown component. This component involves organisms that are known to exist but have not yet been cultured, leaving their exact nature and functions largely a mystery.
You also learn that the human appendix is far from useless, as was once widely believed. Different lines of evidence now show that it serves as a reservoir for beneficial gut bacteria that can repopulate the gut in times of need.
A more hands-on approach to repopulating gut bacteria is the trend for probiotics, which are oral supplements of live microorganisms. However, Dr. Booth cautions against unreasonable expectations for these products. Their goal is to help restore the balance of the body's microbiome, particularly after disruptions caused by antibiotics, other medications, or lifestyle factors like alcohol consumption. But "reestablishing your microbiome isn't as easy as you might think," says Dr. Booth. Side effects can include gastrointestinal issues and opportunistic infections.
Clues to the Origin of Life
Since microorganisms are some of the earliest and most fundamental forms of life, they shed intriguing light on the origin and evolution of life on Earth. Although microbes are only a single cell (except for viruses, which are not even a cell), they have remarkable powers of adaptation and survival, allowing them to thrive in environments ranging from scalding hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean to sites of extreme acidity, salinity, subzero cold, and other inhospitable conditions across every region of the planet. They also have impressive powers of coordination, since they regularly form multicellular structures, like biofilms (dental plaque is an example), and communicate with each other using chemical signals. Such behavior suggests how complex multicellular lifeforms probably evolved.
The Hidden Power of Microbes also ventures beyond Earth to explore conditions that may have led to the evolution of simple life on Mars, Venus, and the larger moons of Jupiter and Saturn. There has even been speculation that microbes from outer space provided the initial spark for life on Earth since evidence shows that the precursors for life and some types of microorganisms can survive radiation in space and the fiery entry through Earth's atmosphere. But whether microbes are descended from alien organisms or not, they are without doubt our friends-the most successful living entities on Earth. We couldn't do without them!
What Will You Learn?
Study the five major types of microbes
Find out what microbes are doing for you
Investigate the role of microbes in agriculture and industry
Discover how normally beneficial microbes can make you sick
Examine the pros and cons of probiotics
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