Soils in medicine

Most people associate soils with dirt and disease, but ironically many of our modern medicines have their roots in soils and the vast numbers of micro-organisms that live there. One gram of soil contains up to 3 billion bacteria and 1 million fungi – some of which have been isolated from soils over the years to create antibiotics, antidepressants, anticancer, and antifungals. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, and scientists believe soils hold the key to curing a host of other conditions in humans, plants and animals.