Title : Microbes for sustainable future
Abstract:
Our planet Earth and human life are increasingly becoming unsustainable due to modernization that results into harsh environmental changes like loss of biodiversity, climate change, desertification, unbalanced N and P cycles, water, air, soil pollution and the poor quality of the human life such as hunger, poverty, regional conflicts, refugees, rising health ailments etc. In order to find solutions for these problems and attain sustainability, United Nations formulated seventeen internationally accepted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the roadmap to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. Microbiology mainly deals with the study of microorganisms, their effect and application. Microorganisms have a direct role in accomplishing these SDGs like food security, health and wellbeing, clean energy, environmental degradation and climate change. Microbial diversity and microbial technology are imperative to achieve a majority of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Since microbes have crucial role in regulation of ecosystem, as microbial communities play a vital role in nutrient recycling and hence directly affecting primary productivity or farm productivity and food security. Soil microbial community’s especially rhizospheric microorganisms promote crop growth and thus indirectly contributed to food supply for humans (SDG 2). Similarly, microorganisms and their enzyme are responsible for the degradation of various organic wastes and recycling of industrial waste thus play a critical role to attain environmental sustainability. Microbes can be also used for bioconversion of wastes into renewable bioenergy like methane, biobutanol, bioethanol, biohydrogen and biodegradable plastic. Large numbers of drug including antibiotics are produced by tiny microbial factories. Furthermore gut microflora are important for digestion of food and wellbeing of human health to accomplish SDG 3. Microbes have been used by humans since ancient times for brewing and fermenting purposes. Microbes are source of various industrial products like enzymes, polysaccharides, vitamins, amino acids, organic acids, alcohols, single cell proteins etc. and currently are main drivers of the bioeconomy and industry of several trillion dollars, thereby contributing directly to SDGs 8 and 9. Various aspects related to application of microorganisms for achievement of SDGs will be discussed in this presentation.
