Shun 'sterlisied living', reconnect with nature to tackle Covid-like pandemics: Renowned scientist

Time of India

4 days ago

Shunning today's "sterilised" and "hyper-clean" lifestyle and reconnecting with natural elements like soil, rivers, fresh air can strengthen people's
immune system
and better prepare them to face
Covid-like pandemics
in future, renowned scientist
Ajai Kumar Sonkar
has said.
In an exclusive conversation with PTI, Sonkar, whose development of pearl-making techniques through state-of-the-art
tissue culture
surprised the world, used an analogy comparing the human body to a mobile phone.
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"By coming in touch with nature, the human body gets information about bacteria and their evolving forms just like a mobile phone needs regular software updates to function properly," he said.
"Like
Covid
, any future pandemic will not occur merely due to bacteria and viruses, but because of our own biological mistakes. To deal with such a nightmare, we must
reconnect with nature
," said Sonkar, who was awarded
Padma Shri
, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2022.
Sonkar, who has conducted in-depth research for years on microbiology and aquatic biology in India and abroad, said, "Modern humans have become so sterilised (artificial and chemical cleanliness shields) that now their bodily immune system is unable to even recognise environmental pathogens."
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"As long as humans were in contact with soil, rivers, and natural air, their immune system continuously received information about bacteria and their evolving forms (microbial updates), just like how mobile phones receive regular software updates," he added.
Sonkar said today's "hyper-clean" culture has distanced the people from this natural protective shield. "We have not only sterilised our homes but have also separated our bodies from the microbes that protect us from diseases," he said.
Revealing a particularly startling finding from his research, he said the
Ganga River
is a living microbial network that reads the microbial data of anyone entering it and responds with protective
bacteriophages
-- viruses that destroy harmful bacteria.
"When people bathe in the river, they introduce their body's microbes to the Ganges, and in return, the Ganges protects them by destroying pathogens through bacteriophages," he said.
"This gives natural training to the human body's immune system. This is the reason why people who come in contact with it are more resistant to new diseases," Sonkar, who is considered among the world's leading scientists on microbiome and bacteriophages of the Ganga, said.
Sonkar, who has spent decades researching microbiology and aquatic ecosystems in India and abroad, claimed that developed nations like the US and those in Europe were severely affected by Covid due to "microbial amnesia."
"Societies like Europe and America have been victims of 'microbial amnesia' for decades. People there live in such clean and sterilised environments that no new 'data' reaches their immune systems.
"They are cut off from the changing forms of bacteria/viruses. As a result, whenever a new bacterium arrives, the body takes time to recognise it and the death rate increases," he said.
When asked about the way forward, Sonkar said, "We must reconnect with nature. We must see the Ganga not just as a sacred river but as a teacher... Reactivating the biological systems of soil, rivers, and air could be the real strategy to prevent pandemics.
"Vaccination is only an insufficient response. In a constantly changing climate environment, vaccination can never replace
natural microbial intelligence
. Living with the natural ability to fight bacteria and their new forms is the real prevention of any pandemic," he added.