"Martin Weiss" <weissm at rockefeller.edu> wrote in message
news:p06002002bb8cc63eeae7@[192.168.1.115]...
>> The public perception is that germs are bad and to be
> avoided. Most-about 1% of microorganisms-are not pathogenic. Most
> examples of beneficial or benign microorganisms are bacteria. What
> about viruses? Are there examples of viruses having a positive
> effect? Benign might be difficult to document.
>What about the colour streaks in flowers - roses, tulips, that sort of
thing. Much/most of that is viral. Then there's the periodic attempts to use
bacteriophages to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria (I think the Russians
have been doing a fair bit on that).
Don't forget all the beneficial fungi - antibiotic production, food
production, etc. Life without Saccharomyces cerevisiae would be sadder....
And then there's the blue cheeses! On our open days we put blue cheese under
stereomicroscopes.
Incidentally, I assume that 1% in your message is a typo?
Lesley Robertson
