Further bringing Microbiology in numbers into
context to muddle a bit more with our grey, there are 100 million times as many
bacteria in the oceans (13 × 1028) as there are stars in the known
universe. The rate of viral infection in the oceans stands at 1 × 1023 infections
per second and these infections remove 20–40% of all bacterial cells each day.
Moving onto dry land, the number of microorganisms in a teaspoon of soil (1 ×
109) is the same as the number of humans currently living in Africa.
Even more amazingly, dental plaque is so densely packed that a gram will
contain approximately 1 × 1011 bacteria, roughly the same
number of humans that have ever lived. Not quite so densely packed but
impressive all the same, the bacteria present in the average human gut weigh
about 1 kilogram, and a human adult will excrete their own weight in faecal
bacteria each year. The number of genes contained within this gut flora
outnumbers that contained within our own genome 150-fold; even in our genome,
8% of the DNA is derived from remnants of viral genomes.
Perhaps the scariest numbers in
microbiology relate to pathogenic microorganisms. Worldwide, 16 million people
die from infectious disease every year, while it may be noted that many of
these deaths are preventable. Approximately one in every 12 individuals or 500
million people worldwide, is living with chronic viral hepatitis, and the
estimated number of new chlamydial infections per year is approximately 50
million, more than the population of South Korea. The bacterium Clostridium
botulinum produces a toxin so potent that 3 grams would be enough to
kill the population of the United Kingdom and 400 grams would kill everyone on
the planet.
In total, there are ∼1,400 known species of human pathogens
(including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and helminths), and although this
may seem like a large number, human pathogens account for much less than 1% of
the total number of microbial species on the planet. On this point, ignoring
questions about what actually constitutes a species, estimates for the total
number of microbial species vary wildly, from as low as 120,000 to tens of
millions and higher. Part of the reason for this large range is that we have
only sequenced 1 × 10−22% of the total DNA on Earth (although the
Earth Microbiome Project should improve this dramatically to 1 × 10−20%
in the next 3 years). This means that the fraction of microbial diversity that
we have sampled to date is effectively zero, a nice abstract entity to end on...
and to realize that popular brands of disinfectants and sanitizers claim to
kill “99.9%” of germs is nothing short of a joke that you can laugh off in
leisure or visualize a trillion germs having a good laugh at you as you try to
squeeze the last drop of living hell out of the plastic bottle of your
favourite hand sanitizer. (This doesn't mean that we stop using sanitizers or scrubbing our floors and hands with disinfectants and soap as these practices when followed, will still kill 99.9% of the germs - covid (henceforth through this document referred to as, 'spiky') being one among them on the hit-list.)
But… despite the terror and horror obtruded, the lifeless
spiky seems to have made some long-pending changes that seemed impossible by other
more living being for long. Take for instance, the ways we tried to promote a
‘swachh Bharat’ – except for pictures of dirty brooms in the hands of our
elected representatives sweeping clean roads with picture perfect smile to be
featured preferably on the front page or at least in some remote corner above
an obituary in page 3, there was nothing much of ‘swachh’ that we got to see
with people still trying to clean up walls and sidewalks with their
uncontrollable need to urinate and those who had to chew, spew and spit their
paan or that quickly churned sputum orchestrated with the most beastly grunt
that can give the wildest, filthiest pig a run for its money – almost anywhere,
everywhere and at any time. Then comes spiky… and all of a sudden, through
conscience or for the fear of the fine and penalty or the policeman’s lathi
marking its presence in the rear, zippers and mouths seem to have gotten
magically fastened. And suddenly, as though magical, no more spitting, no more
urinating, no more stench and no more spray painting of human excreta emitted
through any outlet at every (un)imaginable space. Not just a ‘swachh Bharat’
but a ‘swachh Earth’ it seemed to have become with better civic responsibility.
With lockdowns, containment zones, self-isolations and
quarantining happening at every nook and corner of Earth, there were lesser
vehicles, lesser industrial effluence and thus, lesser emission. The skies
became clearer, the water became purer and the guys who said that Pluto was not
a planet (?!), also said that the long abused ozone layer was now self-healing.
People were beginning to sight more wildlife trotting concrete jungles – open
and free – as we stayed caged in the (dis)comforts of our urban spaces staring
at artificial landscapes.
Politicians and religious leaders exposed their true
colours distancing themselves from people when they could have seized this opportunity
to be close with the masses or perhaps the ‘aam admi’ began seeing through
their pretentious and hippocratic cloak. With no religious institution to visit
or coffer to fill, savings seem to be better and disposable income higher as
humanity raised when people began to see the suffering of those around and
realized the true meaning of giving to those in need who were near.
Big, fat Indian weddings were replaced with simpler and
more meaningful weddings; eating outside reduced as people turned to eating more
delicious and healthier home-made food; demand for locally-grown produce rose
as packaged corporate food and consumables started to rot in the boxes they
came in – with lesser exports, people started to see and taste first class food
which otherwise our farmers and fishermen found fit to be served only for their
unseen consumers overseas.
In the absence of vaccines and a trustable cure available
from allopathy, homeopathy or sabapathy, people seemed to rely on eating
healthy and staying fit to build their immunity – a wiser choice perhaps that
no ‘Fit India’ campaign could achieve so far.
Corona seems to be taking the blame too – like a seasoned
wife or a ‘good’ husband, people have found an easy way out to blame the poor
spiky for everything. Why did the start-up (that never took off) fail? Corona!
Why did the politician not win the election? Corona! Why did the financial
policies get laughed at? Corona! Why did economies fail? Corona! Why did the
cat meow? Corona! Why did the maid try to fly on the broom? Yes, of course,
Corona! After all, everyone knows the poor non-living thing will dare not utter
a word in defence (just like the ‘good’ husband.)
In the kingdom of education, for years I have been witnessing
how the Teacher has been pleading with the student to attempt a teeny-weeny bit
of self-studying – the proposal in an attempt to put the Greek model into
action where the interest and motivation to study must be an intrinsic factor
that must raise the much preferred enthusiasm and curiosity to know, understand
and grow which makes learning a process continuum. Never happened. Higher
education bodies have been asking Teachers who thought that teaching was all
about giving uninterrupted lectures at a ring of a bell from pulpits of power,
dumping buckets of undigested curd from their head to the other(s) – without
passing through either - and pulling out notes from their files like the
legendary Mary Poppins in a desperate attempt to compensate their lack of being
able to make education interesting at the end of the day (wonder why…); now,
not by choice or chance, people must give up these stunts and try being a
facilitator, a trainer instead. With our new friend spiky coming into the
picture, automatically there is a paradigm shift; most online teaching is about
facilitating and most self-motivated learning from home is research-based and
we get to see knowledge being controlled in classes more than behaviour.
Finally higher education bodies seem to have achieved this great feat through
spiky – something that they have not been able to despite diplomatic pleading
so far. Viola!
With small scale industries whose businesses run on
fundamentally following the economic advice of optimal utilization of available
resources quite sincerely by utilizing not just their raw materials yet also
their human resources to its maximum and beyond – at times even beyond what the
watchful eyes of justice can see – in workhouses and behind closed shutters
where bonded and child labourers remained oppressed by clout and by crooks.
Enter spiky; shutters were up and the roads wide open for many of the migrant
labourers and their families to return home – liberated and free.
Talking about bonded labourers, family bonds
seem to have been strengthened with forced confinement; broken
families got a chance to come together and couples who had decided to part ways
have got a second chance to rethink or affirm their decision with conviction. If
not for spiky, wouldn’t we have been just one more face in the crowd watching
the world pass by for reasons no one had time to stop or think – for what? And
why?
With that left for reflection for later, right now, Bon Jovi’s song buzzes
across my head as I hum my version (in brackets) behind my mask…
‘’This ain't a (virus) for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud
It's my life…
It's now or never
(this lockdown can’t go on) forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
My heart is like an open highway
Like (spiky) said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
It's my life.”
