Why you should pursue course in Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms that are too small to be visible to the naked eye. Which may be unicellular, multicellular or acellular microbes are studied. It involves the study of not only prokaryotic microorganisms but also eukaryotic micro-organisms. On the basis of which it has various branches which include virology, bacteriology, mycology, immunology, parasitology and others. Microbiology is not only the study of microorganisms under a microscope but also the study of their roles in the ecosystem, pathogenesis, industrial fermentations and product development. These microbes play major roles in nutrient cycling, biodegradation, food spoilage, climate change, cause and control of diseases. These roles when studied in a microbiology subject can help to develop processes or can be used for various applications like biodegradation of waste, preventing food spoilage by proper storage procedure, help to fight climate change, production of pharmaceutical products for the control of disease etc.

Microbiologists are also looking for the production of biofuels from the microbes as it is cost-effective and better fuel with high energy value. Surprisingly, our fossil fuels, non-renewable sources, are not exploited for the production of biofuels. Various industries worldwide and in our country have gained success in producing biofuel using microbes. Although the existence of the microbes was proved by various microbiologists worldwide, from early microscopic observation by Anton van Leuwenhoek to germ theory by Louis Pasteur and much more work in this area has evolved the field with more applications in day to day life.      

Applications of Microbiology

1. Healthcare Industry: The current Covid pandemic, which has affected almost all the sectors worldwide, has drawn the attention of the people to sanitisation, immunity, overall health of an individual and rapid diagnosis of the disease.In a populous country like ours rise in infectious disease can be checked and controlled by the rapid diagnosis of the disease. Microbiology helps to study any pathogen in more detail so that it can be diagnosed easily, so it has applications in the health care industry.

2. Food and Beverage Industry: The food and beverage industry is another sector where microbes cannot be ignored. Here the focus is on the shelf life and quality of the food items. Microbiologists in the food and beverage industries keep a check on food/ beverage items for the presence of microbes which may deteriorate the quality of food and maybe potential food pathogen to the consumers.

3. Agriculture Industry: It is a major sector where microorganisms are used for various purposes and microbiologists are required in this sector too. As the demand for organic farming or fertilizers free from chemicals is rising worldwide many industries have now shifted the fertilizer production from chemical fertilizers to Biofertilizers as biofertilizer is a better and unique alternative to chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers in the long run cause land and water pollution and various health hazards to the farmers. Various bacterial and fungal fertilizers are produced in biofertilizer industries where microbiologists play a unique role in the development of the product and hence contributing to green biology. Host pathogen interaction studies in plants by microbiologists helps to overcome plant diseases by controlling the spread of disease using antimicrobials or chemicals in the field.

Thus, microbiology has applications in many industries as discussed above and it is still evolving with many more discoveries and research. In future, microbiology will be able to answer some of the big questions like how diverse is life on earth or does life exist elsewhere in the Universe.

About the author

Dr Ankit Sudhir is an Assistant Professor in Biotechnology at GSFC University.

 

 

 

 

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha