I Contain Multitudes- The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
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Web ID: 5596307An engaging exploration of microbes and life
Humanity has known about the microbial world of bacteria for centuries. Ever since technology for optical lenses progressed to a certain point, we’ve known that there is a super-small world that populates almost every region on this planet’s surface. What we didn’t know what how well it worked with animal bodies to promote life. The relatively recent development of microbiology taught us that, and ongoing research into the microbiome spills forth clues into how human life functions – and perhaps can be healed – with the help of microbes. Ed Yong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer who engages the subject of microbes with an acute interest in how life works. Like most sciences, microbiology can appear as a dry subject when approached through textbooks. As a good science writer, Yong instead seeks to convey this same material but engages the human heart at the same time. He succeeds in spades. I learned many things from this book. Life’s origins lie squarely with microbes. Further, the sustenance of today’s life still lies with microbes. That is, without microbes, most of earthly life would fall apart. For some, they supply necessary amino acids to form proteins. As a unit called the microbiome, they populate human guts to aid in digestion. Mixtures in probiotic yogurts may not be refined and targeted yet, but the basic concept makes scientific sense. Retooling this microbiome to promote healthy outcomes (especially with GI diseases) will be a noteworthy advance of the 21st century. I often look at the plant and animal worlds around me to survey the diversity of life. I see nature all around me. This book taught me to exercise my imagination more to engage the microbial world in this mix, too. Microbes are not evil; many, in fact, are helpful. Killing all microbes will not lead to cleanliness but to death for all. We humans need to learn to work with these lifeforms to promote life, and detailed insights supplied by writers like Yong will do just that. Knowledge of microbial life has recently exploded, and digging into its nuggets of wisdom can enrich your mind, soul, and body.
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An Accessible Intro to the Microbiome
"Probiotics" have been a big fad in the pharmacy world for quite a few years now. Products marketed over-the-counter, however, can make pretty serious claims about health benefits w/o having to prove said benefits. All the manufacturer has to prove is that they are SAFE. They are marketed as a "food" so not controlled by the FDA. That necessary disclaimer being put out there by your favorite pharmacist (me), I have long been intrigued by our gut microbes, which are being blamed for everything these days, including obesity and a willingness (or lack thereof) to exercise. Thus, I've wanted to read this book for a LONG time. (My TBR is GINORMOUS.) Microscopic life is EVERYWHERE, and is the origin of all life (if one isn't a Creationist, that is). In fact, "...there are more bacteria in your gut than there are stars in our galaxy." p. 8 (attributed to Sir David Attenborough) While most species maintain similar microbiomes (our gut bacteria), we still have our own unique microbiomes that make us, well, us. And microbiomes can cross-pollinate, as it were, so folks sharing a household also share similar microbiomes. We all know that antibiotics cause diarrhea b/c they destroy many gut bacteria, as well as well as the bacteria making us sick, but the research is still ongoing as to HOW to replace our gut bacteria in order to return to "normal." Are specific bacteria necessary, or is replacing a combination of microbes better? This was a fascinating discussion, and one I had not considered. One day, we might be treating specific illnesses w/ ingesting specific combinations of bacteria! That isn't as futuristic as it sounds, as we already treat certain bacterial overgrowths w/ fecal transplants. It sounds gross, but I've talked to a patient in which a fecal transplant gave her back her life after a C. dificile infection. As much as many microbiologists have learned about how some species cannot function unless they are inhabited by certain bacteria, we still have so much more to learn. I look forward especially to figuring out how we can treat obesity w/ microbiome therapy. In the meantime, if you don't mind a really DETAILED discussion of microbes in many, MANY species of critters, I recommend this book as an accessible introduction to the subject. 4 stars.
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