Topic > The contribution of microbial ecology to the Millennium Development Goals

Since their inception in 2015, the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have tasked governments with building a multifaceted approach to achieving a shared list of sustainable development goals targeted by 2030 (Akinsemolu, 2018). The rapid deterioration of the state of the Earth's biosphere and the reduction in the global quality of life have prompted the United Nations to develop targets that could alleviate the global impact of these damages. If achieved, 17 goals would be postulated to promote environmental, economic and social sustainability, as well as further progress already made by the Millennium Development Goals (CBD-WHO, 2015). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay These objectives were built on the fact that human biospheric and behavioral processes are interconnected and dependent on each other (Timmis et al., 2017) . Such a link would imply that attempts to achieve one goal would promote the achievement of multiple other goals. It was initially thought that there was no means to make a major contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through microbial ecological research as it appears to be simply a subset of a broad range of scientific fields. However, it has been realized that microbial ecology constitutes a fundamental cog in the multidisciplinary machine that drives the sustainable development practices necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Microbial ecology research provides important contributions to biotechnology, agriculture, medical fields, food industries, and bioremediation industries (Barton & Northup, 2011). Therefore, its impact in achieving the SDGs is broad and multi-influential in achieving several interconnected goals. A notable example is the research undertaken by O'Toole and Paoli (2017) to optimize the human microbiome to improve health. Humans, animals and plants host communities of microbes; cumulatively referred to as the microbiome (Willey, et al., 2014). Changes in these microbiomes often lead to a loss of microbial metabolites and host regulatory pathway molecules. The constitution of an individual's microbiome is fundamental for maintaining their health (Timmis et al., 2017). As a result, alterations to a microbiome such as that of the gut lead to diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity in individuals at high risk of developing such diseases. Microbial biotechnologists have developed a microbiome treatment; Live biotherapeutics. This serves to replenish lost vital microbial metabolites to restore an individual's health to that of the level associated with their previously healthy microbiome (O'Toole and Paoli, 2017).