ReviewMicroorganisms2021
Microorganisms as Shapers of Human Civilization, from Pandemics to Even Our Genomes: Villains or Friends? A Historical Approach.
Review in Microorganisms, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Design, synthesis, antibacterial activity, and mechanism study of phosphate-containing vanillin sulfonylhydrazide derivatives.Pest management science · 2026Article
- Nanomaterials-enabled point-of-care diagnostics for pathogens.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Exploration of piperazine-citral sulfonyl derivatives: antibacterial and in-silico studies against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Archives of microbiology · 2025Article
- Industrial and Pharmaceutical Applications of Microbial Diversity of Hypersaline Ecology from Lonar Soda Crater.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2024Review
- Pandemic potential of poxviruses: From an ancient killer causing smallpox to the surge of monkeypox.Microbial biotechnology · 2023Article
- Biotechnological Potential of Microorganisms for Mosquito Population Control and Reduction in Vector Competence.Insects · 2023Review
- Solved the enigma of pediatric severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics: An Overview of Sources Available for the Study of Ancient Pathogens.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Universal history is characterized by continuous evolution, in which civilizations are born and die. This evolution is associated with multiple factors, among which the role of microorganisms is often overlooked. Viruses and bacteria have written or decisively contributed to terrible episodes of history, such as the Black Death in 14th century Europe, the annihilation of pre-Columbian American civilizations, and pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu or the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, it is clear that we could not live in a world without these tiny beings. Endogenous retroviruses have been key to our evolution and for the regulation of gene expression, and the gut microbiota helps us digest compounds that we could not otherwise process. In addition, we have used microorganisms to preserve or prepare food for millennia and more recently to obtain drugs such as antibiotics or to develop recombinant DNA technologies. Due to the enormous importance of microorganisms for our survival, they have significantly influenced the population genetics of different human groups. This paper will review the role of microorganisms as "villains" who have been responsible for tremendous mortality throughout history but also as "friends" who help us survive and evolve.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.