I Contain Multitudes

Ed Yong ponders the amazing microbial world that exists around him, on him and in him. From the microbes’ point of view, a person is as vast as a planet.

At Princeton University, environmental microbiologist Xinning Zhang talks to Ed Yong about the 150 million year old partnership between wood-chomping termites and the gut microbes that enable them to digest their meals. Ed also explores how the microbes in our own bodies help us digest the plants we eat.

On the other side of the globe, an Australian science team shows Ed Yong how they are fighting the dreaded Dengue virus with a surprising, microscopic ally. Dr. Scott O’Neill reveals why volunteers all over the world intentionally release mosquitoes into their backyards to help stop the spread of this dangerous disease. No insect spray allowed here!

Dr. Martin Kaltenpoth invites Ed to burrow into a beewolf lair in his German lab, where he has discovered something really weird about these insects. Ed observes the antibiotic properties of Streptomyces, a microbe that lives happily inside a mama Beewolf’s antenna until the moment arrives to share the bacterial gift with her developing and vulnerable offspring.

Ed Yong heeds the warning of scientists who study antibiotic resistance, as they work feverishly at the Kishony lab in Israel to understand how bacterium evolve and change. If we do not change the way we prescribe and take medication, Ed explains why the drugs we take for granted may soon be no match against deadly bacteria.

Ed Yong marvels that giant tubeworms can survive in the unforgiving environment at the bottom of the ocean, a place that sunlight will never reach. It was through these mysterious creatures that biologist Colleen Cavanaugh of Harvard University made an astonishing discovery about the earliest form of life on earth.

Ed Yong wants to learn how to become invisible. In nature, that can be a handy superpower if you are a favorite snack of several underwater predators. The Hawaiian bobtail squid has learned to master this trick. But it can’t do this alone. It has help from its microbes. Microscopic organisms inhabit the squid’s light organ, and they are the secret to the bobtail squid’s ability to turn invisible.

Imagine never getting a cold again. No more sneezing, no more days in bed with a fever and a runny nose. At first, a world without microbes seems like a germ-free utopia without bacterial infections, food poisoning, viral diseases, mildew or mold. But a world without microbes would actually be a terrible scenario, and you’re about to find out just how horrifying it would be.

Do you remember your first birthday present? It may not be what you think it is. Your first birthday present was actually the microbial bath you got when your mother delivered you--the beginning of your very own microbiome. Ed Yong finds out what babies born vaginally get from all those first microbes, and how babies born by C-section might benefit from receiving the same gift.

To scientist Mark Smith, poop is more than just waste--it’s medicine. A healthy intestinal tract is teeming with trillions of microbes, which help us stay healthy and fend off attacks from bad bacteria that make us sick. Repeated doses of antibiotics can wreak havoc on our microbiome and leave it vulnerable to harmful and sometimes even life-threatening bacteria. The solution is: poop.

Microorganisms aren’t just bacteria. They are fungi and other microbes too, and they are often nature’s little helpers. In a climate that is getting increasingly hot, they may actually be able to save our food supply. Microbiologist Rusty Rodriguez has studied how a fungus helps panic grass live on the edge of geysers in 150 degrees without breaking a sweat.