Talk:Microorganism

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Jain antecedents
One or more IP editors have made edits suggesting that Jain scriptures predicted microbial life. The article in fact already states, with reliable sources, that they indicated the "possible existence of unseen microbial life", which (given that they did not have microscopes or any other direct means of obtaining evidence) is all that they could have done, and is all that the sources attest. If there are further sources providing additional evidence, these will be of interest; otherwise, the topic should be considered already well covered. Chiswick Chap (talk) 13:46, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

Mahavira image
The image was added on 29 August 2018, captioned with the assertion that "Mahavira was the first to assert the existence of microscopic creatures." (I subsequently modified that to the more easily supportable "Mahavira asserted the existence of..." which another editor has helpfully recast as "postulated" instead of "asserted".)

Until consensus is gained here on this talk page, I believe it is appropriate to retain the status quo ante without the image. Kindly discuss... Just plain Bill (talk) 14:54, 17 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for posting this discussion. It's just a nonsensical absurdity that any such specific record about Mahavira microbe speculation is preserved from 6 BC when no durable written records existed. I've requested page protection against the IP interference. --Zefr (talk) 15:03, 17 October 2018 (UTC)


 * The article makes clear, with suitable citations, the role of Jainism in suggesting the possibility of microorganisms. This seems fully adequate as coverage, with no need for images which in any case do nothing to enhance the message. Chiswick Chap (talk) 15:28, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

File:E coli at 10000x, original.jpg scheduled for POTD
Hello! This is to let editors know that the featured picture File:E coli at 10000x, original.jpg, which is used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for September 17, 2020. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2020-09-17. Any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be made before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:05, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Micro organisms
Is fungi a micro organism ? 41.114.177.113 (talk) 18:51, 31 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Please read the article. You never know but it might just contain the answer. Wikipedia does not undertake homework assignments, ever.  Velella  Velella Talk 17:20, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm not asking you to do my assignment, it is an essay they gave us in school about microbes and germ 102.88.34.110 (talk) 17:17, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Akshamsaddin -- skeptical
Early modern section says:

"Akshamsaddin (Turkish scientist) mentioned the microbe in his work Maddat ul-Hayat (The Material of Life) about two centuries prior to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's discovery through experimentation:

It is incorrect to assume that diseases appear one by one in humans. Disease infects by spreading from one person to another. This infection occurs through seeds that are so small they cannot be seen but are alive.[9][10]"

If they are too small to be seen, how does he know about them? Did he have a microscope? Did he make agar plates and watch them grow? Or was it just a lucky guess? It seems comparable to Democritus' atomism -- correct by chance, and only loosely so. People made up all kinds of crap about medicine and biology in those days, some of it was bound to be right by sheer chance. 90.155.34.28 (talk) 23:27, 16 February 2022 (UTC)


 * From his use of the word "seeds', it sounds as though he is simply repeating what Lucretius wrote in De Rerum Natura (Book 6, lines 1090 ff), where seeds ("semina") are blamed for spreading contagions. - Eroica (talk) 09:10, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

What about viruses?
The first paragraph implicitly excludes viruses, as they aren't cellular, but they ARE classified as microbes, so should be here. (noting that they're mentioned lower down the article.). Maybe change to: "which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells OR AS A VIRUS." Sorry not to 'be bold', but I don't have the relevant knowledge. My reference is (the very readable): What are viruses for?. Onanoff (talk) 15:59, 25 March 2022 (UTC)


 * I don't think it is about cellular or not, I think it is that organisms are alive, and the status of viruses as living things is disputed. Cellularity is one factor in that, but so is lack of metabolism. MrOllie (talk) 16:06, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

830 myo potentially alive microorganisms?
On 6 May 2022, scientists reported the discovery of 830 million year old microorganisms in fluid inclusions within halite that may, potentially, still be alive. According to the researchers, "This study has implications for the search for life in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial chemical sedimentary rocks." - Drbogdan (talk) 22:01, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

Wonders of Microbes
Microbes the minute life forms encompassing algae, archaea, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses make up for over 17% of life on our planet.The evolution of microbes are to be found everywhere. They are found in air, water, foliage, jar of a lid, the skin on our hand, to name a few.Microbes are the building blocks of life as they produce oxygen, impact water and sequester carbon dioxide. Microbes are vital ecosystem engineers, but are quite often blamed for causing diseases.There are over one trillion microbial species on the Earth, of which only 1400 can cause illness to humans. The rest are beneficial or benign microbes which help human beings in guarding the immune ,nervous systems, produce vitamins and detoxify chemicals. Sujasi (talk) 17:39, 29 June 2022 (UTC)

Macro Skills of Microbes
The seas are full of microbes.Almost 90% of the content of marine beings is from microbes. Nitrogen and oxygen in the deepest depths of the oceans, where there is no sunlight too, is produced by these microbes. The microbes are the contributors to the scent of the seas with bacteria breaking down chemical compounds releasing the sea smell. Microbes flourish every where. A single grain of sand can house 100,000 bacteria.Microscopic plankton in the ocean convert Water and carbon dioxide in to carbohydrates and oxygen. Half the oxygen we breath is the result of the said production. Clouds abound with bacteria which collects water vapor in the atmosphere to make cloud droplets.Bacteria acts as the surface provider turning into cloud condensation nuclei as the cloud droplets need a solid or liquid surface to collect.The said act of bacteria determine our weather Sujasi (talk) 17:46, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

Athanasius Kircher
No mention of Athanasius Kircher, who anticipated Leeuvenhoek's discovery by about 27 years. - Eroica (talk) 09:12, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

mild vandalism??
When you are on a different page and hover over the microbe link, instead of saying a microorganism or microbe xyz, it says a omar abdelwahab or microbe xyz' i don't know no who Omar is, but can someone do something Flamingraptor (talk) 15:01, 2 February 2023 (UTC) Flamingraptor (talk) 15:26, 2 February 2023 (UTC)Flamingraptor