Microbes are wreaking havoc on mankind. Agreed, not all of them are bad. In fact, we need them to survive. Our gut is full of microorganisms that are keeping us healthy and well. They ensure that our digestion is proper and that we lead a healthy life.
However, the bad ones can be severe and cause damage beyond measure. Formulation of vaccines and antibiotics gave us hope the war against microbes was won for good. However, the euphoria was short-lived, and scientists continue to discover new microbes every day that can potentially wipe off half the world population.
Such as the latest pandemic. Coronavirus poses a serious threat to humanity. While sufficient protection has come up in the form of vaccines, the mutation of the virus strands is making it difficult to understand.
To top it off, this is just one virus that we know of; there are several others that we have zero clues about. In this article, we shall try and understand various types of diseases caused by microbes and what can be done about it?
Diseases caused by microbes
There are several diseases that microbes can induce in a person. This may be as trivial as routine flu and can take up the shape of life-threatening diseases such as cancer or coronary diseases. Some diseases are acute, which means they are short-lived, and they’ll pass away in some time.
Others are chronic and can be a serious menace for some people. These conditions are long-lived and can cause impediments in a person’s routine life. Some microbes can even cause autoimmune diseases, which means that the person’s own body is destroyed by their own White blood cells. This is because the White blood cells in the body start considering the self as an invader and works up to destroy the ‘foreign body’, which is actually not foreign.
How do Viruses spread?
Amongst the deadliest microbes are viruses. They are very different from bacteria in terms of properties and behaviour. Here we shall understand how these viruses are transmitted and what can be done to prevent them from threatening our existence.
Touch: Microorganisms are present on our skin at all times. Not all of them are dead, but they do get transmitted from one person to another via touch.
Consuming Contaminated Foods or liquids: Viruses get transmitted via contaminated stuff that you may consume. That’s why it’s always essential to eat fresh food and drink clean water to reduce the risk of getting infected.
Body Fluids: Most of the STDs are usually transmitted via this method. For instance, HIV can be transmitted when the semen or blood of an infected person enters the body of someone else.
There are several other methods of transmission such as respiratory droplets, (Kumar, Malviya, & Sharma, 2020) contact with carrier mosquitos etc.
What to do?
The big question that looms around is how to tackle the microbes in a better way? On the technical level, the best way is to study the microbes so that we can understand their properties and how they behave. The knowledge about them will allow us to devise necessary medical treatments to cancel their effects or at least mitigate them.
Scientists all around the world are studying the DNAs and RNAs of various microbes to discover their properties.
Handling the RNAs and DNAs the right way
When handling microbes, you need to have the right tools and kits. Data contamination is a great challenge to the life sciences fraternity because they can’t find high-quality kits and equipment to support their researches.
MBP ensures that we have the best products delivered to the labs so that they can get accurate results. If you are looking for RNA and RNA/DNA extraction kits for your labs, then contact us to know more.
Final Thoughts
Understanding microbes is essential for mankind if we wish to deal with them better. The current pandemic is a clear example of how deadly microbes can be. With the help of MBP, you can equip your labs with the best kits and equipment to perform better in this domain. We’ll ensure that your labs have the best products to complement your studies and researches.
Kumar, Malviya, & Sharma. (2020). Corona Virus: A Review of COVID-19. EJMO.
