Pathogens Quotes

“What accounts for this great diversity running through our veins? The struggle for survival entails not only the competition for resources and mates but also the battle against pathogens. In this immunological arms race, the blood group antigens of human populations have coevolved with a microscopic world of enemies (as well as allies and neutral parties). Natural selection shapes the human immune system by favoring the configurations best adapted to a population's environment.”
― Avi Tuschman, Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us

“Human breast milk contains sugars called oligo-saccharides. At first, scientists struggled to understand why mothers express these compounds, as babies can't digest them. It now seems that their sole purpose is to feed the bacteria with which the child will grow. They selectively cultivate a particular bacterial species with a crucial role in helping the gut to develop and calibrating the immune system. Similarly, young plants release large quantities of sucrose into the soil, to feed and develop their new microbiomes.
Like the human gut, the rhizosphere not only digests food, but also helps to protect plants from disease. Just as the bacteria that live in our guts out compete and attack invading pathogens, the microbes in the rhizosphere create a defensive ring around the root. Plants feed beneficial bacteria species, so that they crowd out pathogenic microbes and fungi.”
― George Monbiot, Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet