TY - JOUR
T1 - Microorganisms as shapers of human civilization, from pandemics to even our genomes
T2 - Villains or friends? a historical approach
AU - Rodríguez-Frías, Francisco
AU - Quer, Josep
AU - Tabernero, David
AU - Cortese, Maria Francesca
AU - Garcia-Garcia, Selene
AU - Rando-Segura, Ariadna
AU - Pumarola, Tomas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Universal history is characterized by continuous evolution, in which civilizations are born and die. This evolution is associated with multiple factors, among which the role of microorganisms is often overlooked. Viruses and bacteria have written or decisively contributed to terrible episodes of history, such as the Black Death in 14th century Europe, the annihilation of pre-Columbian American civilizations, and pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu or the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, it is clear that we could not live in a world without these tiny beings. Endogenous retroviruses have been key to our evolution and for the regulation of gene expression, and the gut microbiota helps us digest compounds that we could not otherwise process. In addition, we have used microorganisms to preserve or prepare food for millennia and more recently to obtain drugs such as antibiotics or to develop recombinant DNA technologies. Due to the enormous importance of microorganisms for our survival, they have significantly influenced the population genetics of different human groups. This paper will review the role of microorganisms as “villains” who have been responsible for tremendous mortality throughout history but also as “friends” who help us survive and evolve.
AB - Universal history is characterized by continuous evolution, in which civilizations are born and die. This evolution is associated with multiple factors, among which the role of microorganisms is often overlooked. Viruses and bacteria have written or decisively contributed to terrible episodes of history, such as the Black Death in 14th century Europe, the annihilation of pre-Columbian American civilizations, and pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu or the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, it is clear that we could not live in a world without these tiny beings. Endogenous retroviruses have been key to our evolution and for the regulation of gene expression, and the gut microbiota helps us digest compounds that we could not otherwise process. In addition, we have used microorganisms to preserve or prepare food for millennia and more recently to obtain drugs such as antibiotics or to develop recombinant DNA technologies. Due to the enormous importance of microorganisms for our survival, they have significantly influenced the population genetics of different human groups. This paper will review the role of microorganisms as “villains” who have been responsible for tremendous mortality throughout history but also as “friends” who help us survive and evolve.
KW - Biotechnology
KW - COVID-19
KW - Endogenous retrovirus
KW - Influenza
KW - Microbiota
KW - Pandemics
KW - Plague
KW - Population genetics
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Yersinia pestis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120695102&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/microorganisms9122518
DO - 10.3390/microorganisms9122518
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85120695102
SN - 2076-2607
VL - 9
JO - Microorganisms
JF - Microorganisms
IS - 12
M1 - 2518
ER -