The role of microbes in planetary health must not be overlooked, scientists warn

The tiniest and most ancient organisms on and inside Earth have a big role to play in ensuring a sustainable future for our planet, argues an international team of scientists, including professor-researchers from Ohio State University, in a new Cell journal article published today.

Microbes – bacteria, viruses, fungi and other single-celled organisms – enable the survival of all other species that inhabit the land, sea, air and even our guts. Fueled by rapid technological advances in recent decades, scientists are learning more every day about how microbes function and how they can be used to protect human health and the planet.

But microbial research remains underrepresented in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals — a situation that needs to change to accelerate progress towards the goals, scientists say.

The United Nations has outlined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for developed and developing countries to work towards globally. The UN outlines this set of goals as an effort to eradicate poverty and other deprivations, improve health and education, reduce inequalities, and promote economic growth. It also works to tackle climate change and protect oceans and forests.

Microbial activities are fundamental to sustaining all life, such as producing oxygen, yet their role is barely mentioned in hundreds of multilateral UN treaties and intergovernmental policy agreements, the authors write.

This review details seven major pathways for leveraging microbial research and technology to achieve goals: promoting health and combating disease, food production and nutrition, producing clean energy, synthesizing and recycling products, bioremediation, promoting healthy ecosystems, global biogeochemical cycles and climate change.

“An ever-expanding field of research shows how different microbial populations perform different functions, and their effective management can provide solutions to improve many aspects of life, from human health to energy and food production,” the researchers write.

One reason microbes have been left out of the Global Goals may be a lack of public and political awareness of their importance, the researchers say. While we’re most familiar with disease-causing bacteria and viruses, a trillion more microbe species function in highly interconnected communities to process nutrients, initiate chemical reactions, consume gases, and purify waste – all functions that can be harnessed for an ever-growing list of practical applications that benefit the planet.

Among the many examples outlined in the paper, the authors report on microbe-based innovations, such as engineering bacteria that can deliver toxins to tumours and using organisms to extract pollutants from soil, sediments and water.

“The microbiome affects everything,” Sullivan says, “and by its nature, microbiome science is highly interdisciplinary. That puts us in a good position to explore how to scale this research to the level needed to have a big impact.”

“We believe that a better understanding of the role of microbes in ecosystems is crucial to unlocking their power for sustainable bioproduct production and protecting the planet. The scientific community is ready to take on the research, but the complexity of microbial life and the interdisciplinarity required to unlock their mysteries pose challenges to traditional disciplinary funding and academic structures. This broad scientific communication aims to raise awareness of the opportunity.”

The paper’s lead authors are Laura van Galen and Thomas Crowther of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and Lino Rappuoli of the Siena Biotechno Polo Foundation in Italy.