Microbial Trojan horses

Twenty-one years ago, I managed to view Euglena using a microscope in the Botany lab of my college. It was simply impressive. It was difficult to view single-celled organisms such as Paramecium in the Zoology lab as the lessons started with arthropods such as cockroaches, and later small-sized sharks.

Nostalgia crept in as I read an article from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution about bacteria trapped alive in single-celled organisms. These live bacteria can be released later into the environment and the disease causing ones can create havoc in regions where public and personal hygiene is at a premium. The article says that these microbial “Trojan horses" sometimes contain pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella in high concentrations even in crop soil.

The scientists are continuing their investigations.