Other Benefits of Bacteria

Bacteria is inside us and helps our digestive system.  But how might bacteria help us indirectly?  How can bacteria be helpful to our environment?

Read the following article from Science Daily:  Microbes Produce Fuels Directly from Biomass and explain the benefits of bacteria to our ecosystem.

Is all bacteria "bad"?

Bacteria makes you sick!  It is why you are told to cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands before dinner, and not eat or drink in a science lab.  But if bacteria is all around us, and we are not always sick, can bacteria be good for us?

Read the following Science Daily article:  'Good' Bacteria Keep Immune System Primed to Fight Future Infections.

How can bacteria be good for us?  Give examples and use your notes and your textbook to help you answer these questions.

What is antibiotic resistance?

Everywhere you look you can find purell, antibacterial soaps, disinfectants that kill 99.9% of all bacteria...  In your classrooms, on the supermarket shelves, at home, etc.  This is great if you don't want to catch a cold or the flu, but what problems might this cause? 

Read the following article from Science Daily:  Disinfectants May Promote Growth of Superbugs

What is antibiotic resistance?  How do bacteria become resistant?  What problems does cause?

Spread of Bacterial Diseases

Today in class we were introduced to bacteria to start off our immunology unit.  Bacteria are spread in many ways.  Scientists now have discovered that smoking a cigarette can spread bacteria - in addition to other harmful (and many times deadly) effects that lead to diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. 

Read Janet Raloff's article, Cigarettes might be infectious:  And, presumably, people wouldn't need to light up to risk getting sick. 

How is the bacteria spread?  What conditions allow the bacteria to survive in the cigarette?  Use your information from the bacteria notes to help you respond.