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Elias Hakalehto, PhD, Adj. Prof.

Microbiologist, Biotechnologist

CEO and inventor, Finnoflag Oy, Kuopio, Finland (1993-)

Founder of the Environmental Section (1983) of the Student Union of Helsinki University

An Alumnus of the UniversityCollege London, U.K. (Biochemical Engineering)

Vice President (Europe and Africa), International Society of Environmental Indicators

Lifetime Fellow Member, International Society of Development and Sustainability (Japan)

(Published on the 19th of March 2024)

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Aridity is one of the most limiting conditions for agricultural crop production. It deprives even nutrient-rich soils of their fertility. Drought leads to erosion, food crises, and social and political issues. In modern days, famine is caused by the destruction and drying of the sources of our livelihood. It could lead to unanticipated consequences both locally and on the global scene. Microbes provide the solutions.

Besides the lack of water, other factors negatively influence our lifeblood. In the case of soil resilience, this relates to the deprivation of some or all nutrients, destroying the physicochemical structures, acidification due to excessive long-lasting use of artificial irrigation, overuse of chemicals, pollution, detrimental fallout, monocultures, and, last but not least, microbiological imbalance.

As there is usually no significant human culture without agriculture, finding other foundations for our well-being is possible, too. In the high North, it is possible to carry out under-ice fishing, under glass, or indoor cultivation of crops. Correspondingly, it is practical to grow photosynthetic algae in the pools in the southern hemisphere. However, this approach also applies in the Arctic area since sunlight is abundant for 24 hours there during summertime. This makes it possible to manufacture not only food or feed but also chemicals, cosmetics, medicinal substances and numerous other goods.

Any organic or inorganic sediments of lakes, rivers or seas could provide valuable sources of organic materials. We at Finnoflag Oy are working on the EU-funded "Bioresque" project in the CircInWater platform of Blue Bioeconomy. The microorganisms could offer valuable tools for new industries. See the article  "What biocatalysis has to offer for green industries and city planning?" by Hakalehto, E. and Humppi, T. in the Maintworld magazine 4/2024. Microbes could be used for removing toxic compounds, such as heavy metals or recalcitrants, or for concentrating substances for reuse. This relates to valuable minerals and their circulation, too. And to environmental health and safety. Moreover, we could find novel ways for soil improvement, organic fertilization, or energy solutions.

In all foreseeable progress, if only our human societies do not demolish their opportunities by politicizing substantively pure or commonly constructive goals, this microbiological perspective for food production and environmental sustainability could benefit all nations.

Such undesired spillage of positive outcomes could lead to a surprising crisis, such as spreading pandemic viruses by bats losing their niches, natural or artificial catastrophes causing population relocation, new public health issues, intolerable famine, or mental stress in big cities and their suburban areas. If the laws of causes and consequences are consciously or accidentally forgotten, this leads to chaotic scenes. Therefore, we must be prepared for quick moves to counterbalance these morbidities of modern lifestyle and erupting events.

Corresponding to the arid conditions of a desert, the surfaces of snow fields are scarcely populated by plants or animals. However, more life is to be discovered under the uppermost layers of tundra or sandstorm-driven Sahara or other deserts. The harsh conditions are insulated by snow or topsoil covers. In desert soil, microbiomes are as versatile as in rainforest soils. Partially, it is dormant in both cases. Extremophiles also find their niches, but all these tiny biosphere components facilitate life in demanding conditions, where microbial life is crucial for other living forms to flourish or for their persistence. In the northern climate, low temperatures limit the spread of many diseases over winter and keep the circulation balanced in the Earth's framework.

Indeed, it is fortunate that microbial populations, communities, and ecosystems are at the roots of plants and behind the circulation of any ecosystem. They make the wheels go around and protect the life on Earth. Otherwise, nutrients could not find beneficial destinations in the ecosystems, which would erode their resilience against catastrophes. Therefore, microbiological research and process development are urgent necessities for survival in this world of sudden, yet often long-term, and often unforeseeable threats. We ought to truly understand our living platform. Please do not ask, in case of upheavals or catastrophes, why we were not awake, and why not actively seek solutions beforehand? The wilderness of microorganisms could have cleaned up the mess.

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