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How are microorganisms useful?
Microbes are useful for us in many ways in various industries.
Microbes are a key component in both home and industrial food preparation.   
    Lactic acid bacteria are used to make yogurt, cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and other fermented milk products. Vinegars are produced by bacterial acetic acid fermentation.
     Yeast is used in the manufacture of beer and wine and for the leavening of breads. It is also involved in fermentations to convert corn and other vegetable carbohydrates into ethanol to make beer, wine, or gasohol; but bacteria are the agents of most other food fermentations.
    Other fermented foods include soy sauce, sauerkraut, dill pickles, olives, salami, cocoa and black teas.
Certain microbes can help us in the fight against other microbes. In human and veterinary medicine, that are used to  treat and prevent infectious diseases, microbes are a source of antibiotics and vaccines.    
     Antibiotics are substances produced by microorganisms that kill or inhibit other microbes. They are used in the treatment of infectious disease. Antibiotics are produced in nature by molds such as Penicillium and bacteria such as Streptomyces and Bacillus.
    Vaccines are substances derived from microorganisms and are used to immunize against disease. The microbes that are the cause of infectious disease are usually the ultimate source of vaccines.
Microorganisms play a central role in recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering. Important tools of biotechnology are microbial cells, microbial genes and microbial enzymes.
The microbes that normally live in association with humans on the various surfaces of the body (called the normal flora), such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are known to protect their hosts from infections and otherwise promote nutrition and health.
    They help purify waste water in waste water treatment facilities.
    They help reduce atmospheric nitrogen and transform it to ammonia important for agriculture.


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