Big Plans for the Smallest Creatures: Australian University to Play Key Conservation Role

Microbes, some of them consisting of a single cell, shape ecosystems, produce food, regulate disease, and might even help repair the Great Barrier Reef.

This underwater photo, taken on April 4, 2024, shows fish swimming near bleached coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, located 270 kilometres (167 miles) north of the city of Cairns. DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images

Australia’s Monash University is playing a lead role in conserving creatures that most people forget exist, but without which entire ecosystems would collapse.

Microbes, some of them single-celled organisms, can’t be seen without a microscope, yet they play a huge role, shaping ecosystems, producing food, and regulating disease.