Question: Which microorganism do you think is the most helpful in finding answers to many of the questions we still have about how these unicellular organisms can help us out in finding treatments or cures for diseases?

Emma Stevenson answered on 14 Nov 2017:

Wow, that is a really interesting question. I really don’t think there is one microorganism that fits this bill. This is because there are so many different micro organisms in so many different environments that have useful properties. For example, lots of extremophile bacteria (ie ones that survive in hot springs and caves) have yet undiscovered antibacterial properties. There are also viruses that can infect bacteria that we can use to treat infections. So, the key is to keep understanding them all, so we have an abundance of ways to treat and cure disease and we wont run out of treatment methods.