Do you know about the “white hat” bugs on which our lives depend?

In our human lives, we are accustomed to focus on only the disease-generating bacteria, while there are many other bacteria which are not only vastly beneficial to humanity, but are also crucially important for our survival. This is true not only for our environment but for our biological structures that we call our bodies, as well.

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So, let’s talk a bit about the benefits that our little friends provide for the environment

Do you know that some bacteria can digest radioactive waste, converting it to a totally safe substance?

So, let me introduce you to our bacterial hero. Ladies and Gentlemen, here comes his Majesty Geobacter. Researchers at MichiganState University discovered how this little fellow is doing its majestic job. Geobacter dissolves radioactive waste by two means. The first one is by producing a protein filament that entraps uranium in a mineral shell – imagine uranium put in jail! The second one is by producing a special coating on its surface that absorbs uranium like a sponge. In addition, Geobacter, while positioned on an artificial membrane, is capable of keeping all toxic metals at bay on the other side of that membrane (Clark et al 2021). Since metals conduct electricity, Geobacter has been studied for its electricity-harvesting property.

Another great friend of humanity is Ideonella. Idoenella sakalensis was first discovered in Japan in a recycling plant for plastic bottles. It appeared that this bacterium is able to convert plastic to carbon dioxide. In 2021, Toshiba announced a competitive challenge called ExploraVision which was won by two fifth graders - Julia Stewart and Jacob Park. They suggested a water filtration system based on Ideonella. The system was called Coagulation Filtration System (CFS).

CFS converts polluted water into a pure drinking water.

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Do you know that there is a bacterium that can convert sugar to a diesel-like substance?

Researchers used a genetically-modified E. coli (commonly found in our gut) to achieve these results. Imagine the implications of this discovery when the invention becomes commercially available to everyone.

It is not a commonly known fact that many medications are produced by bacteria.

Here are just two examples: streptomycin is an antibiotic produced by a soil organism and insulin is a hormone produced by genetically-modified E. coli, used in the treatment of diabetes.

Another amazing discovery is that bacteria could potentially fight cancer. Research showed that genetically-modified Salmonella have 1000 times higher affinity to tumor cells than to normal ones. The researchers used a non-toxic to the human body variant.

Genetically engineered Salmonella was capable of colonizing and invading tumors, after which it secreted a substance that killed them. Hurray!

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Our second topic is about the “white hat” bacteria in our bodies.

In our bodies, we are not alone! It is actually quite crowded in there. Our skin is home to 100 billion individual bacteria, many of which protect us from pathogenic bacterial invasions.

Natural skin bacterial function was linked to the regulation of the immune system and the inflammatory response of the body.

In addition, our gut is home to 100 trillion bacteria. It is already an accepted fact that the wellbeing of our immune system and our brain, depends on these bacteria.

Recent studies confirmed that if our gut flora is not balanced, our brain cells start producing amyloid plaques, which are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer dementia

It has been demonstrated in research that the quantity and the variety of our gut flora changes with many diseases. Changes in the gut biome were shown to affect the memory and the behavior of mice by changing their hormone and mediator (the messengers of the nerve cells) levels (Wang et. al. 2005). Supplementing Bifidobacterium longum in male mice improved their cognitive function (Savignac et. al. 2015).

Diseases such as diabetes, obesity, autoimmune problems and many others have been linked to gut bacteria dysfunction, called dysbiosis.

Therefore, it is not a surprise that the study of the gut biome and its relationship to human disease and health is presently one of the hottest topics in medicine.

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Also, our gut bacteria produce vitamins for us and participate in the digestion of carbohydrates.

Here is another interesting fact. Most people do not know that our gut flora is easily influenced by our diet (especially a bad one), lack of sleep and a sedentary life style.

This knowledge takes the importance of healthy eating, exercise and sleep hygiene to another level. Therefore, taking only probiotics is rarely enough to keep our tiny gut benefactors in good condition.

We need to add exercise, good food and sleep to the concoction in order to restore our gut balance.

Our benevolent inhabitants will immediately reflect our kindness back to us by keeping us safe and by preventing unwanted diseases.

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There are multiple laboratories which can check your gut biome health and give you advice on how to support your gut flora through diet changes. If you are on vegan or vegetarian diet, simply follow only that part of the advice that concerns the products consistent with your diet. One such laboratory is www.viome.com. After paying for the service in advance, the laboratory will send you a home kit with instructions on how to collect your stool. After collecting the stool sample, you simply mail it back to the lab in the prepaid envelope that the lab has provided.

The topic of bacteria beneficial to us is huge and there are many, many other external and internal benefits that I cannot cover in such a short article. However, I wish that all of us would be blessed by receiving in our lifetime the miracle that our tiny, “white hat” friend can perform for us on almost every level of our existence.

Let’s all have the most vibrant and healthy biome of all.

From my heart to yours with a smile,

Dr. Ani

Disclaimer:

Though I am a medical doctor and I share my experience and knowledge with you, please be advised that I am not your medical doctor, so you will need to seek and follow the directions of the medical professionals involved in your case. This article is purely informational and cannot be taken as medical advice.

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