5 usefulness of microbs

Microorganisms are useful in the following ways:

Food and beverage industry:  Bacteria help us in making certain foods. Lactobacillus is a bacterium that sours milk and is used to makes curd from milk. Many fungi like Mushrooms and morels are edible which are rich. Yeast is commonly employed in preparing food items like bread, cakes, idli, dosa, dhokla etc.  Yeast is also used in breweries for making wines by the process of fermentation.

Making medicines and vaccines:  Bacteria and fungi are used to make medicines called antibiotics.  The first antibiotic, penicillin was discovered by Alexander Flemming using the fungus penicillium. Some common antibiotics are streptomycin and terramycin.

Microbes are used to make vaccines. Vaccines are weakened or dead germs introduced into the body. They offer protection against diseases like tuberculosis, polio etc. by producing anti- bodies. Bacteria and Yeast are used in making vitamin B complex tablets.The human hormonal called insulin can also be obtained from bacteria.

In Agriculture:  Some bacteria like Rhizobium, blue green algae like Nostoc, live in the root nodules of plants such as gram, pea etc. These bacteria absorb the nitrogen of the atmosphere and convert it into nitrate which serves as natural fertilizers for plants, hence, enhancing soil fertility.

In cleaning the environment:  Microbes help to keep our environment clean by decomposing dead matter. They decomposed substances are recycled as these get reused from the soil by plants.     Some bacteria decompose sewage and other waste in water. This is nature’s method of keeping the environment free from pollution.