Bacteria and Decision Making

Courtesy of T Abele:


I read an article that was published in science Daily on December 14, 2009. The article was based on bacteria and how it relates to humans reactions. The name of this article is “Bacteria Provide New Insights Into Human Decision Making.” Several scientists contributed to this article.

Scientists have been studying bacteria and have gathered different pieces of information that affect how people make decisions regarding their health, wealth, and choices affecting society. This article involves the study of genes, physics, chemistry, complex biological systems, and mathematics.

The authors of this article attended the University Of California, located in San Diego. These authors noticed bacteria in genes was mostly affected by stress. These stressful decisions are often put off until the last minute. Eshel Ben Jacob stated, “ Everyone knows the need to try to postpone important decisions until the last available moment but apparently there are simple creatures that do it well and therefore can really teach us, these are the bacteria.” This information is handy for not only scientists but also economists because they have a better understanding of how people will react to a crisis or unplanned situation.

In our environment the amount of bacteria that is present is much more than the amount of people on earth. There is one hundred times as many bacteria then people. Bacteria are studied to respond to certain issues. Starvation, being poisoned and irritation are all examples of some issues that would be highly reactive. When responding to these three situations there is a certain process that bacteria undergoes. Dormant states become highly resistant to the environment and bacteria functions fully.

When decision-making is being made there is a chemical message and reaction that takes place. This process involves the network of genes and proteins.

This new study that is being undergone by scientists is more advanced than previous research. Scientists have discovered that bacteria that affects stressful decision-making is normally on target. This means the first initial reaction is released instead of sometimes a more appropriate reaction.