The urgent need for microbiology literacy in society

作者：Kenneth N. Timmis, Ricardo Cavicchioli, José L. Garcı́a, Balbina Nogales, Max Chavarría, Lisa Y. Stein, Terry J. McGenity, Nicole S. Webster, Brajesh K. Singh, Jo Handelsman, Vı́ctor de Lorenzo, Carla Pruzzo, James Kenneth Timmis, Juan Luis Ramos Martín, Willy Verstraete, Mike S. M. Jetten, Antoine Danchin, Wei Huang, Jack A. Gilbert, Rup Lal, Helena Santos, Sang Yup Lee, Angela Sessitsch, Paola Bonfante, Lone Gram, Raymond T. P. Lin, Eliora Z. Ron, Zeynep Ceren Karahan, Jan Roelof van der Meer, S Artunkal, Dieter Jahn, Lucy Harper · 发表于：Environmental Microbiology · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1111/1462-2920.14611 · 被引用次数：186 · 研究领域：Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Research、Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease、Science, Technology, and Education in Latin America

Microbes and their activities have pervasive, remarkably profound and generally positive effects on the functioning, and thus health and well-being, of human beings, the whole of the biological world, and indeed the entire surface of the planet and its atmosphere. Collectively, and to a significant extent in partnership with the sun, microbes are the life support system of the biosphere. This necessitates their due consideration in decisions that are taken by individuals and families in everyday life, as well as by individuals and responsible bodies at all levels and stages of community, national and planetary health assessment, planning, and the formulation of pertinent policies. However, unlike other subjects having a pervasive impact upon humankind, such as financial affairs, health, and transportation, of which there is a widespread understanding, knowledge of relevant microbial activities, how they impact our lives, and how they may be harnessed for the benefit of humankind – microbiology literacy – is lacking in the general population, and in the subsets thereof that constitute the decision makers. Choices involving microbial activity implications are often opaque, and the information available is sometimes biased and usually incomplete, and hence creates considerable uncertainty. As a consequence, even evidence-based ‘best’ decisions, not infrequently lead to unpredicted, unintended, and sometimes undesired outcomes. We therefore contend that microbiology literacy in s...