Biological Warfare

Abstract

Microorganisms produce a wealth of chemicals as they fight for space in the soil. We use some of these as medicine, such as penicillin and streptomycin, but also less well-known varieties such as cyclosporin, which revolutionised transplant surgery. Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem in humans, but in South America there are fungi-cultivating ants which have been using antibiotics for millions of years apparently without encountering such problems. There is a lot to be learnt here. Many people see biological control as an environmentally friendly way of dealing with pests—and sometimes it works, such as when the spider mite is combated using predatory mites in tomato cultivation. At other times it is catastrophic, as when cane toads were introduced to combat beetles in sugarcane plantations in Australia. A special group of fungi makes short work of nematodes which cause diseases in both plants and animals, and a great deal of research has been conducted to get them to function as medicine or biological control agents. But profound ecological insight is required to get such a construction to work.

Better a Spanish snail in the scissors

than four hundred eggs in your vegetables!

Nils Nyberg