FROM SOIL TO SYRINGE: HOW MICROBES CONNECT NATURE AND MEDICINE

 

Nature’s Medicine Makers

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the quiet workhorses of the natural world. 

Fungi, bacteria and viruses. Out in the wild, they break down dead matter, cycle nutrients, and form symbiotic relationships with plants. They're the original recyclers, chemists, and healers, all rolled into one.

Below is a video by Peekaboo Kids, that helps explain what microbes are and their function in a fun way.

https://youtu.be/JZjzQhFG6Ec?si=wUWAB1j5ZC_-BTT3

What makes fungi (and other microbes) special is their ability to produce powerful compounds. Some of which just happen to help humans, too. The most famous example includes the discovery of penicillin which pioneered the rise of antibiotics. Below is a video by Ted-ED which helps explain it.

https://youtu.be/CNbnLgetqHs?si=q6nyFWC87iqML2cu

Ancient cultures may not have known exactly what these tiny organisms were doing, but through trial and error, they definitely knew something in the soil, mold, or fermented paste could ease pain, heal wounds, or fight infections.

Today, modern medicine takes these microbial abilities and refines them. Turning natural compounds into precise treatments. But are we still listening to the soil? And how does the biology of these microbes determine what medicine they become?

Microbial Power: Then and Now

1. Traditional Use: Healing from the Ground Up

Before laboratories existed, medicine often came straight from the earth, or rather, the living things in it.

• Moldy Bread Poultices: Used in ancient Egypt and Greece, moldy bread was pressed onto wounds. Today, we know that certain molds (like Penicillium) produce antibiotic compounds.
• Fermented Plant Mixes: Traditional healers across Asia, Africa, and the Americas used naturally fermented concoctions to treat everything from infections to inflammation. These ferments often teemed with beneficial microbes doing their quiet biochemical work.
• Sacred Soil and Mushroom Rituals: In some Indigenous traditions, certain fungi or soil substances were used for spiritual and healing ceremonies. Modern research now shows many of these fungi contain compounds with antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, or even psychoactive properties.

While not always consistent or well understood, these traditional practices were rooted in a deep connection to nature and, often, a surprising understanding of microbe-powered healing.

2. Laboratory Medicine: Microbes Under the Microscope

Science eventually caught up with tradition, although with a different toolkit.

• From Soil to Drug Shelf: Many of today’s antibiotics (like streptomycin, tetracycline, and erythromycin) were discovered in soil bacteria or fungi. Scientists simply took nature’s recipe and refined it in the lab.
• Controlled Environments, Precise Doses: One big advantage of lab medicine is consistency. You can isolate a specific microbe, optimize the conditions for producing its medicinal compound, and deliver it in an exact dose, something traditional methods can’t always guarantee.
• Risks and Rewards: That said, lab-grown microbes can also pose risks, such as, overuse of antibiotics, which has led to resistance, and removing microbes from their natural context can sometimes dull their potency or alter their behavior.

3. Microbial Biology: What Makes a Microbe Medicinal?

Whether growing wild or cultured in labs, microbes don’t always produce healing compounds. Their biology and the environment they live in, often play a big role.

• Stress Makes Medicine: Many microbes only produce their healing compounds (like antibiotics) under stress. For example, in soil, they compete with other microbes, leading to chemical warfare a.k.a medicine for us. In labs, we have to recreate those conditions artificially.
• Nutrient Sources Matter: What you “feed” a microbe can change what it produces. Soil microbes growing on decaying wood might make one chemical, but on sugar-rich lab media, they might make another.
• Symbiosis and Community: In the wild, microbes interact with plants, fungi, and each other. Those interactions often trigger medicinal compound production. In sterile labs, those relationships are lost, which might affect potency or diversity.

How Can We Improve Both Approaches?

• For traditional practices: Better microbial analysis of local remedies can reveal hidden treasures.
• For lab medicine: Mimicking natural environments, like co-culturing microbes or simulating stress, can boost compound discovery.
• For both: Respect for the microbe's biology and context is key. Healing isn’t just about what the microbe is, but where and how it lives.

Final Thoughts from the Biolab desk: Listening to the Life Around Us

Microbes have been healing us long before we knew they existed. Whether they’re thriving in forest soil or fermenting in high-tech labs, their biology holds clues to powerful medicine.

As we push forward with medical advances, it’s worth asking. 

Are we still connected to the soil beneath our feet? Are we protecting the ecosystems that give rise to these life-saving organisms? And how do we balance traditional knowledge with modern breakthroughs?

At the end of the day, microbes remind us of something simple. 

Healing can come from the most unexpected places and sometimes even the dirt under our nails. Yeah, you read right.

So, what do you think? Should we keep diving deeper into the lab, or look back to the ground we came from? Or maybe…both?

Let us know in the comments