Introduction
The article that was selected was one which recorded the events of Tuesday, June 7, 2011. The article itself was titled, The New Generation of Microbe Hunters. An epidemic had been reported to have occurred and it was an outbreak of food-borne bacteria (Kolata 1). The deadly bacteria had claimed the lives of several dozens of people in Germany and caused several other hundreds to fall seriously sick. Five doctors, who were apparently taking dinner, were recorded to have had a long discussion about the matter at hand.
The greatest fear of the doctors was the fear that the same thing could happen in their area (Houston) and they would not be able to help the patients since the strain of the bacteria had not been determined. One of the doctors was the chairman of pathology at a certain hospital. The victims who succumbed to the disease were said to have shown signs similar to those of a victim of inhalation anthrax. Another fear was the possibility of the strain to have been genetically modified by some terrorists.
Relation of the article to studies in microbiology
The article relates to studies in a microbiology class where we study on microorganisms such as the bacteria. In class, information on the existence of both good and bad bacteria was acquired. This meant that some bacteria could be useful to humans while others could be very deadly. The bacteria could be said to be bad when it causes diseases which are, in most cases, very deadly.
The microbiology class therefore helped me to understand the article very well since I could identify the type of diseases that microorganisms such as bacteria could cause. In microbiology, there is a subject on genome sequencing and this subject was useful to the scientists as shown in the article since the investigators used the newly available technology to determine the whole gene sequence of the bacteria that was causing the disease. This was the method used in the identification of the strain of the bacteria so as to be in a position to deal with the problem (Kolata 1). Immunology was also mentioned in the article and it is the study of the immune system. The microorganism may interact with the body of the host and escape the wrath of the immune system and therefore survive in the body of the host rendering him or her helpless.
I found the article very interesting since I was able to learn a lot on the diversity of the strains of bacteria that are in existence. Researchers have identified 1,554 full bacteria sequences and are still anticipating some 4,800 more. Another thing that captured my interest was the fact that bacteria could be used as a lethal weapon by terrorists. The article was also informative on the methods of preventing future incidents of such outbreaks. One of the methods identified was the development of disease weather maps. This is generally the mapping of the presence of bacteria and viruses in an area so as to know their location. This involves the collection of swabs from sewage treating areas or other public areas such as the subways and conducting gene sequencing so as to identify the particular strain of virus or bacteria. This way, scientists could prevent outbreaks by targeting the known areas of prevalence.
Conclusion
The article selected was very informative and interesting as it enabled me to learn more about the subject of microbiology and to learn about the dangers associated with some deadly strains of microorganisms. My prior knowledge on the subject enabled me to understand the article and relate to it.
Works Cited
Kolata, Gina. “The New Generation of Microbe Hunters.” New York Times 2011: D1. Print.