What are microbes?
Microbes are makers or destroyers. They can promote health or cause disease. Microbes inhabit almost every niche of the world, from 20 miles beneath the Earth’s surface to 20 miles overhead. They live at temperatures less than -20 degrees Celsius to temperatures hotter than the boiling point. Microbes thrive on a huge range of foods including radioactive materials, oil and toxic wastes. Every time you walk on the ground you step on billions of microbes. They (bacteria or fungi) live in the soil, on rocks, inside roots, buried under miles of earth, in compost piles, and all over the Earth’s surface. Microbes live in buildings, homes, and schools and in people. Certain bacteria produce antibiotics; others live symbiotically in the guts of animals (including humans) or elsewhere in their bodies; or, on the roots of certain plants, often fixing nitrogen gas into a usable form. Bacteria put the tang in yogurt and the sour in sourdough bread. Bacteria help to break down dead organic matter.
