Page 15 - The Microworld Miracle

croorganisms, members of a secret world that reach to every corner
of the Earth, are far more numerous that those other, more familiar
living things. These minute creatures outnumber the animals in the
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world by twenty to one. In the same way that they are present all
over the world, they are also essential to human life.
What are the members of this enormous community of micro-

organisms?
The living things we shall be examining in this book consist of
bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae and mites. You will doubtless be fa-
miliar with their names, but may be mostly unaware of how close-
ly your life is bound up with them. For example, the nitrogen cy-
cle—one of the basic processes that make life on Earth possible—is

established by bacteria. Root fungi, on the other hand, are the most
important factor in the way plants extract the minerals from the
soil. Bacteria on your tongue prevent you being poisoned by foods
containing nitrates, such as salad or meat. At the same time, bacte-
ria and algae are able to perform photosynthesis, another essential
process factor in the existence of life on Earth, and an ability they
share with plants. In short, these microorganisms are a vital compo-

nents in the balance of life on Earth.
On occasion, some of these microscopic living things also give
rise to sickness. The immune and defense systems in your body ex-
ist in order to combat these organisms. Some spread through your HARUN YAHYA
body at great speed, employing methods that medical science has

still not uncovered, while others may put an end to someone's life
in mere moments, or only gradually. Some may benefit for a living
creature in return for making use of its structures, in other words,
living in a symbiotic (shared life) manner. Other microorganisms (ADNAN OKTAR)
are able to combine together, making decisions and plans, organiz-

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