Good Deeds Making us sick is not the only effect microbes have on our life. In fact, most microbes don't make us sick. Many are beneficial and necessary to life. Life as we know it wouldn't exist without microbes. Visitors now step into Pete's Place, an ordinary kitchen. We observe microbes at work performing tasks that make life possible. Microbes help plants grow, help us digest our food, help us defend ourselves against other microbes. Without microbes, we would be lost. And microbes enable us to have vaccines and antibiotics.