Microbes: the most powerful life on Earth
When you look at the world up close, a new one opens up to you. More beautiful and extraordinary than you could ever have imagined.
So small, you can’t see them
For anyone who thought a flea was tiny, a new world opens up: the world of microorganisms. A microorganism, or microbe, is a being too small to see with the naked eye.
Microorganisms aren’t measured in centimeters or millimeters, but in micrometers. 1 μm is 1/1000th of a millimeter. Microbes are often only a few micrometers ‘big.’ For example, an average bacterium can fit about 50 times into the diameter of a single hair. Viruses are even much smaller than bacteria.
Boundless variety
Scientists estimate that around 100 million different species of microorganisms live on Earth. That’s far more types of microbes than all plants and animals combined. The variety is endless. From fungi, yeasts, and (micro)algae, to bacteria, archaea, viruses, and microscopic animals. Microbes come in all shapes and sizes.
Two-thirds of life is invisible
What microbes lack in size, they make up for in numbers. Across the entire planet, two-thirds of the biomass (living and dead organic material) consists of microbes. Animals, plants, trees, humans, and insects pale in comparison. For example, there are a nonillion bacteria (that’s a 1 followed by 30 zeros) living on Earth—far more than the number of stars in the universe.
The most powerful organisms on Earth
The microworld may be invisible and mysterious, but it is also indispensable. Microbes are essential on Earth and in our bodies. Microalgae in the ocean produce half of all the oxygen in our atmosphere. Fungi and bacteria break down the organic material of dead animals and plants into new resources. And gut bacteria help you digest food. Without them, life on Earth would not be possible.
The oldest inhabitants of Earth
Microorganisms emerged around 3.5 billion years ago, when Earth was very different from today. Microbes managed to inhabit the steaming, toxic planet and, through photosynthesis, pumped more and more oxygen into the atmosphere. Slowly but surely, they made the Earth suitable for more and more life.
Around 1.7 billion years ago, the first multicellular microorganisms evolved from single-celled microbes. And about 600 million years ago, visible life forms like worms appeared. So, everything and everyone on Earth descends from a microbe.
Microbiology
Microbiology, isn’t that something with microscopes, lab coats, and a laboratory? That’s true. But it’s anything but boring. Scientists have been researching microbes ever since they were discovered by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. Which microbes live in our bodies, and what does that mean for our health? How do antibiotics work, and how can resistant bacteria be fought? How do microbes contribute to climate change, and how can they help reduce it? The science that aims to answer these and many more questions is called microbiology.
