Salmonella in eggs, E-coli in burgers, campylobacter in chickens-the list goes on and on. The media seems to always have some story about germs or viruses that cause some horrible problems for man. It is true that there are a lot of ways that microbes can hurt us especially if we are careless, but do not think that these critters are a flaw in God's design. They exist in huge numbers-recently estimated to be 5 x 10³⁰ individual microbes globally. There are 10 times more in volume than all of the world's animals. Without them, life could not exist on this planet.

Half of the atmosphere's oxygen is produced by photosynthetic microbes. Without them, we could not breath and our atmosphere would vary wildly in its composition. In your body, there are an incredible number of these organisms that keep you alive. Here are a few:
 

Staphylococcus aureus protects your lungs
E-coli protects us from harmful bacteria
Barteroides fragilis releases vitamins K and aids with digestion
Lactobacillus acidophilus protects us against yeast infections and other microbes

The world would fill up with garbage if microbes did not break it down into things we can reuse. Microbes release sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon to sustain life on our planet. Many other minerals are also released by microbes. Bread, cream, cheese, penicillin, erythromycin, streptomycin, etc., are all produced by microbes.

The point is that there is a highly complex world of microbes designed to make our world possible. The number of these forms of life and what they do that is good is staggering. New uses are being found every day-all taking advantage of the wisdom and design built into our world. Truly, "what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible (Hebrews 11:3-Weymouth translation) both spiritually and physically! -Source: U.S. News and World Report, November 8, 1999, page 72.

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