Using teamwork and chemical communication, Paenibacillus bacteria cooperate to survive- they mince unwieldy complex carbohydrates into bite-size pieces for all to enjoy. They share the artisanally crafted molecules needed to extract essential iron from their surroundings. They jointly construct a kind of slimy tarp, a biofilm, on a convenient surface like a pond rock or your teeth, under which the microbes then safely hide.” But under some circumstances, they commit ecological suicide. “When fed glucose in the lab, the microbes can pollute their environment so quickly and thoroughly that the population kills itself.” In “gorging heedlessly” on glucose, their waste leads the pH level in the culture medium to drop precipitously, destroying the microbes. As Dr. Jeff Gore of MIT explains: ““The cells don’t realize what they’re doing in time to stop doing it.” Their focus on short-term benefits damages them collectively.
Can we humans do better and prevent self-inflicted ecological catastrophe?
