ABSTRACT
The existence of lifeforms presenting both unicellular and multicellular formats may suggest a different interpretation of the said terms, as against the traditional ones. Along with different interpretation of data concerning collective and colonial growth patterns, a view of such populations as parts of a single organism with a loose and distributed multicellular organization, rather than communities, might open up interesting prospects of intervention and an expanded, novel view of the health risks presented by appendage microbiomes under different sets of micro- and macro-environmental conditions. In the long term, this approach would result in a true biocybernetics system; in the mid-term, it may contribute to research and development efforts for new diagnostics and therapeutics for current and emerging infectious diseases, and possibly for tumors. Biosecurity applications would be immensely affected, as such prospects may increase the effectiveness of the current medical countermeasures manifold, especially if combined with massive genomic data expected to come online through sequencing efforts focused on pathogens. At the same time, industrial formats with or without biotechnological enhancement may become of interest as a more sustainable alternative to costly and highly interventional solutions, including modified, engineered and otherwise manipulated strains or species of microorganisms.
