Microbes: The Tiny Sentinels That Can Help Us Diagnose Sick Oceans

Environment





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Microbes can act as canaries in the coalmine for ocean pollutants such as sewage. Ne0Freedom/Wikimedia Commons

Microbes - bacteria and other single-celled organisms - may be tiny, but they come in huge numbers and we rely on them for clean water, the air we breathe and the food we eat.

They are nature’s powerhouses but they have often been ignored. We previously lacked the capacity to appreciate truly their diversity, from micro-scales right up to entire oceans.