Jjemba's Invisible Companions

Patrick K. Jjemba, research associate in the biological sciences department, targeted his recently published book, “Environmental Microbiology: Principles and Applications,” to audiences with a basic understanding of microbiology.

Jjemba observed that his work is especially useful to scholars because it “examines the composition and behavior of microbial communities in their natural habitats where they affect our drinking water, waste treatment, and cycle nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide. They also clean polluted sites and spread diseases.”

Jjemba’s approach in writing the book was unique in that he introduced the subject as a history of microbes and their role in shaping the environment rather than as a history of microbiology. “Using recent advances in molecular biology has enabled us to go back in time and assemble how microbes shaped the environment prior to any human intervention,” he said.

He added that the field of environmental microbiology was initially driven by a desire to control the spread of diseases, particularly through drinking water during the industrial revolution. “However, its scope has continued to expand, enabling us to exploit the ingenuity of microorganisms to deal with issues of antibiotic resistance beyond clinical settings, degrade organic pollutants, transform metals contaminants, impact greenhouse gases, and gain knowledge about how organisms adapt to extreme environments such as high and subzero temperatures, moisture, stress, and radiation.”

The book recognizes the tremendous achievements gained through the use of conventional techniques that depend on growing these organisms in the laboratory, but it also acknowledges that very few of their types have ever been grown. Jjemba discusses molecular techniques that enable both novices and professionals to understand fully the diversity and capabilities of “these invisible companions which, to the general public, evoke only thoughts of disease and malady.”