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Bacteria Facts Essay

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Bacteria Facts

Bacteria is something we are all reminded of on a daily basis by merely switching on our televisions where we are bombarded with advertisements for both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria contrary to the view of the past when only so-called ‘bad’ bacteria was ever talked about, so what has changed? This essay will address the facts about bacteria including their ideal conditions for growth as well as looking at specific examples of how they can be both helpful and harmful to humans. So what are bacteria? In simple terms bacteria are microscopic, single-celled organisms lacking a nucleus and other organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts which are common place in eukaryotes. …show more content…

Even though some bacteria have the capacity to be deadly should they still be classed as harmful even if they do not exercise this characteristic? In a broader context could we not compare this type of bacteria with a car for example, in the wrong hands a car can be a deadly weapon but for most of us it is something we use in our everyday lives without ever coming to any harm. Can the same not be said for most bacteria in that they only cause problems under specific conditions? Take Pseudomonas aeruginosa for example, most of the time it is found living in soil and is viewed as harmless however, to a sufferer of Cystic Fibrosis it is potentially lethal as it has the ability to colonize their lungs causing serious infection if inhaled (5). This begs the question, who is really at fault, the bacteria or the host? Having evolved in their presence humans have serious difficulty with a relatively small number of bacteria so why do we persist in filling our homes with bacteria killing products? Are we doing ourselves more harm than good?

Since the introduction of better standards of hygiene in the home, particularly after the war, many childhood infections have all but disappeared but has a rise in allergies, especially amongst children taken their place? With fewer bacteria around for our immune

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