If We Cannot Win Against Pathogens, Why Not Domesticate Them

If We Cannot Win Against Pathogens, Why Not Domesticate Them

The existence and dominance of human beings cannot be explained effectively without including the aspect of other organisms we live in the same world. One group of these organisms is the microorganisms that cause infectious diseases. Microorganisms are a constant bother to human beings, with various strategies to control them being applied unsuccessfully. The failure of humanity’s strategy against microorganisms causing infectious has forced them to use indiscriminant violence in terms of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

 Pathogens can be classified into two classes depending on their harmfulness; there are those virulent which cause severe harm and those mild ones that form a benign relationship. The harmfulness of pathogens can be based on their mode of transmission. This means that the virulent pathogens do not need a human host for transmission; therefore, exploiting the human host increases survival chances (Ewald, pg.4). On the contrary, mild pathogens need a human host for transmission; therefore, they need a healthy and mobile host; thus, they end up forming a benign relationship.

The reason why these virulent pathogens are yet to be fully managed is their evolution qualities and modes of transmission. If we can beat them with antibiotics, as has proved the case, we can join them or rather let them join us by controlling their evolution. This strategy can be achieved by creating conditions that naturally favor the mild pathogens forcing virulent strains to evolve towards benign ones (Ewald). We can change harmful pathogens and domesticate them by cutting off their major transmission pathways. For instance, we can clean the water supply if the pathogens depend on water for transmission, forcing them to be friendly to human hosts since they need them to be healthy and mobile for transmission.

Yes, I have given thought to the relationship we have with microbes. Microbes behave like they are fighting for survival, and we as humans are in the middle of the battle. The virulent pathogens have other means of moving from one host to the other and continue with their existence. They use a human host as a bleeding ground, and they have no problem killing the host (Shultz). This is unlike the benign type that needs humans for transmission; killing the host will mean their survival is threatened. Therefore, the idea of manipulating the evolution of microbes by manipulating their environment to shift the evolution direction towards the benign type seems like a perfect idea, an idea that will give humans dominion over the scary pathogens. 

References

Ewald, Paul. TED2007: Can we domesticate germs? Retrieved; (2007).  https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_ewald_can_we_domesticate_germs

Ewald, Paul W. "Evolution of virulence." Infectious Disease Clinics 18.1 (2004): 1-15.

Shultz, David. If you can’t beat diseases, domesticate them. Retrieved; (2014). https://nautil.us/if-you-cant-beat-diseases-domesticate-them-2128/