Saving Soil: Harnessing The Microbiome

We live in unprecedented times.

- Dr Jan Jacobs

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc all over the world. It has reiterated some key facts that humans as the superior species on this planet tend to forget. Microbes such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and other primitive life forms are much more abundant on Earth and were here long before humankind. They have a profound influence on various aspects of our daily lives.

Think of ‘good microbes’ as those used for making alcoholic beverages, dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, and compost. Some microbes even help with the manufacturing of antibiotics, antimycotics and various other industrial enzymes.

In contrast, ‘bad microbes’ such as rot and disease-causing micro-organisms, can lead to food and water contamination and might eventually destroy their host, as in the case of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The role of the microbiome

One of the most important reasons why humans have survived the onslaught of microbes over the centuries, is their highly active immune system that is formed by natural selection over time. Without this active defence barrier, the entire human race would have been wiped out long ago in pandemics such as the infamous Black Death of 1347 and the Spanish Flu of 1918.

The immune system co-evolved with trillions of gut bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists and viruses – collectively known as the gut microbiome or microflora. All these microbes work together in the gastrointestinal tract to protect us against unwanted microbes.