Microbiological literacy and the role of social science: a response to Timmis et al.

Bradshaw, Aaron

doi:10.1111/1462-2920.15808

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Therefore, it seems to us to integrate not only knowledge from natural science related fields but also social science in particular within the new generation of scientists and stakeholders is critical. We hence fully agree with what Timmis et al (2020) called "the need for microbial literacy" and consider that multidisciplinary teams of microbiologists, microbial ecologists and social scientist should promote, through the collaboration, the access of this knowledge to the society (Bradshaw, 2021). This is critical if complex multi-component concerns such as climate change impact are to be addressed.…”

Section: Collaborative Multi-and Interdisciplinary Studiesmentioning

confidence: 56%

Rising awareness to improve conservation of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems: advances and future directions in soil microbial diversity from Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula

Lavergne,

Cabrol,

Cuadros-Orellana

et al. 2024

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Soil ecosystems are important reservoirs of biodiversity, as they are the most diverse habitat on Earth. Microbial biodiversity plays key roles in many ecosystem services, including the support to biogeochemical cycles. However, despite great advances in the understanding of the role of soil microbiota in providing benefits to nature and humankind, there is still much knowledge to be gained from understudied areas across the globe. Indeed, underrepresentation of the Global South in ecological studies has been suggested as an important gap that could compromise global solutions to conservation and the current biodiversity and climate crisis. In the Southern hemisphere, the southwest of South America, which includes Chile, runs behind the rest of the continent on studies related to soil microbial diversity and ecosystem functions. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of the global biodiversity and environment crisis, essential perspectives and knowledge from underrepresented regions need to be acknowledged to avoid biases in the scientific community. The main objective of this work is to understand how soil microbial diversity has been studied in Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula since 1975 to identify main knowledge gaps and funding opportunities for future research. Our survey consists of 343 articles representing 1,335 sampling points from Continental Chile to the Antarctic Peninsula. It revealed a better representation of articles studying bacterial and fungal diversity in the extreme regions of Chile funded by both international funds and the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID). To study microbial diversity, cultivation-based methods are still the most commonly used, whereas molecular studies are increasing but insufficiently applied. We have identified and argued the need to enhance collaborative multi- and interdisciplinary efforts, fundings for sequencing effort, and long-term studies to provide robust and informative knowledge about soil microbial communities.

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Section: Collaborative Multi-and Interdisciplinary Studiesmentioning

confidence: 56%

Rising awareness to improve conservation of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems: advances and future directions in soil microbial diversity from Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula

Lavergne,

Cabrol,

Cuadros-Orellana

et al. 2024

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…In recent years, microbiologists and microbiological associations have been particularly active to raise awareness on the impacts of microbes on the biosphere and the environment. This effort should be enhanced by involving professionals from different disciplines (Bradshaw 2021 ) for knowledge dissemination and informed decision-making by citizens and policy makers. As philosopher Deleuze ( 2000 ) said, the “encounter between two disciplines doesn't take place where one begins to reflect on the other but when one discipline realizes that it has to resolve for itself and by its own means a problem similar to the one confronted by the other.”…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is the result of a collaborative work (i.e. between aquatic microbial ecologist, microbiologist, linguist, secondary school biology teachers, undergraduate biology students) considering that as already mentioned by Bradshaw ( 2021 ), microbiological literacy in society will be enhanced through collaborations between microbiologists and other disciplines from the social sciences and education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbes and us: microbiology literacy in Greece

Karayanni,

Motsiou,

Sapountzi

et al. 2024

FEMS Microbiology Letters

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Microbes are ubiquitous and provide numerous services to humans and our planet. However, a query arises as to whether these microbial services are valued by the general public especially after unprecedented conditions like the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context a survey was conducted to investigate the concept of microbe in Greece. Thematic analysis of 672 anonymous responses (age range 4–75yo) received for the open-ended prompt “What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word microbe?” revealed five thematic categories: Negative emotions, Fuzzy associations, Biology, Entities and Health. Almost 80% of responses fell under “Biology” and “Health” and the general pattern of answers was the same across all age groups. Microbes took a variety of forms in the minds of respondents, however, the concept of “microbe” seems to be more unshaped at younger ages (4–11yo), as revealed in children's language choices. Overall, the often-negative perception of microorganisms seems to be confirmed in this study. Although this research was limited to participants from Greece, it remains relevant to other countries around the world as well. We discuss the reasons behind this negative perception and offer suggestions for reversing it.

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“…To this end, experimentation with fermentation (Hendy et al, 2021), rewilding (Lorimer, 2016(Lorimer, , 2017, and probiotic practices grounded in an ethics of the more-than-human (Cañada et al, 2022) at a diversity of scales and contexts might hold promise. Beyond this, fostering generalised microbiological literacy in society (Timmis et al, 2019), and natural-social science collaboration (Barendse, 2021;Bradshaw, 2022b) might help us to reconnect to the microbial world. 4.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abundance and absence: Human-microbial co-evolution in the Anthropocene

Bradshaw¹

2023

The Anthropocene Review

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Human-microbe relations have undergone a profound shift over the past 100 years. The discovery of antibiotics, increasing levels of pollution, and urban and agricultural intensification have led to the proliferation and diversification of novel resistance genes and microorganisms. This abundance has unfolded against a backdrop of microbial absence that is the other side of the antimicrobial coin; reductions in the quantity and diversity of human-microbe interactions are now registering as epidemics of chronic non-communicable diseases in urban populations. Building from this paradoxical situation of ‘abundance’ and ‘absence’, this article reviews the molecular-genetic, macroscale-infrastructural, and community-ecological aspects of microbial evolution at a time when human actions are a critical force in shaping their directions.

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Microbiological literacy and the role of social science: a response to Timmis et al.

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Rising awareness to improve conservation of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems: advances and future directions in soil microbial diversity from Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula

Rising awareness to improve conservation of microorganisms in terrestrial ecosystems: advances and future directions in soil microbial diversity from Chile and the Antarctic Peninsula

Microbes and us: microbiology literacy in Greece

Abundance and absence: Human-microbial co-evolution in the Anthropocene

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