“With the acuity of hindsight, shoving an American microbe onto a Panamanian frog seems overly optimistic, not to mention a bit imperialist.” — Ed Yong Overly Optimistic Copy Share Image
“Even now, the photosynthetic bacteria in the oceans produce the oxygen in half the breaths you take, and they lock away an… — Ed Yong Carbon dioxide Copy Share Image
“Our darkest fiction is full of Orwellian dystopias, shadowy cabals, and mind-controlling supervillains. But it turns out that the brainless, microscopic, single-celled… — Ed Yong Biology Copy Share Image
“Her husband donated a stool sample, which Khoruts pulverised in a blender. He then delivered a cupful of the slurry into Rebecca… — Ed Yong Marriage Copy Share Image
“The team also worked out how the microbes were affecting the brain. Their main suspect was the vagus nerve. It's a long… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“If I went to a library and lobbed a microbiology textbook out the window, I could easily concuss a passer-by. If I… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“One bacterial species stood out, both for its protective powers and for its colour: blackish-purple, ominous but darkly beautiful. It was called… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“The microbiome may vary from day to day, from sunrise to sunset, or even from meal to meal, but such variations are… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“The variations that exist between the body parts dwarf those that exist between people. Put simply, the bacteria on your forearm are… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“The data might tell tales with preposterous plots, but they don't lie. They tell us that the citrus mealybug is a mash-up… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“Patterson died in 2014 but Mazmanian is now carrying on his friend's work. His long-term goal is to develop a bacterium that… — Ed Yong Friendship Copy Share Image
“Meanwhile in South America acacia trees rely on ants to defend them from Weeds, pests, and grazers. In return they give their… — Ed Yong South america Copy Share Image
“Many of the plants that the spider mite targets can release hydrogen cyanide when their tissues are breached. This substance is extraordinarily… — Ed Yong Concentration camp Copy Share Image
“Drinking lots of alcohol makes the gut leakier, allowing microbes to more readily influence the brain. Could that help to explain why… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“Mucus is made from giant molecules called mucins, each consisting of a central protein backbone with thousands of sugar molecules branching off… — Ed Yong Food Copy Share Image
“Dinsdale and Rohwer found that as humans become more common, so do microbes. From Kingman to Christmas Island, top predators such as… — Ed Yong Cause and effect Copy Share Image
“The world around us is a gigantic reservoir of potential microbial partners. Every mouthful could bring in new microbes that digest a… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“That's what happened when the desert woodrats swallowed microbes that allowed them to detoxify the poisons in creosote bushes. It's what happens… — Ed Yong Aphids Eat Copy Share Image
“We have already seen how pliable the microbiome can be. It can change with a touch, with a meal, with a parasitic… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“For example, all three partners cooperate to make nutrients. To create the amino acid phenylalanine, they need nine enzymes. Tremblaya can build… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“The bacteria don't physically reshape the gut themselves. Instead, they work via their hosts. They are more management than labour. Lora Hooper… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“When microbiologists first started cataloguing the human microbiome in its entirety they hoped to discover a "core" microbiome: a group of species… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“John McCutcheon has worked out the origins of this weird hierarchy-and it's almost unbelievable in its twists and turns. It begins with… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“For one group of wasps, the braconids, transferred genes have enabled a bizarre form of pest control. The females of these wasps… — Ed Yong Pest control Copy Share Image
“Most animals can't tap into these open-source adaptations deliberately. The flies didn't seek out Spiroplasma to solve their worm problem. Woodrats didn't… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“Almost every major partnership in the natural world is like this. Cheats are always a problem. Betrayal lurks perpetually on the horizon.… — Ed Yong Betrayal Copy Share Image
“The Earth is 4.54 billion years old. A span of time that big is too mind-boggling to comprehend, so let’s collapse the… — Ed Yong Earth Copy Share Image
“bacteria are infinitely more versatile than we are. They are metabolic wizards that can digest everything from uranium to crude oil. They… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“We now know that when bacteria break down fibre, they produce chemicals called short chain fatty acids (SCFAs); these trigger an influx… — Ed Yong Immune system Copy Share Image
“When Hamiltonella's genome was sequenced, the real reason behind the bacterium's protective powers became apparent: about half of its DNA actually belonged… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“It earns its keep. As it digests HMOs, B. infantis releases short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that feed an infant's gut cells -… — Ed Yong Immune system Copy Share Image
“No, the algae were making something that killed the corals via their own microbes. That something turned out to be dissolved organic… — Ed Yong Food chain Copy Share Image
“The citrus mealybug is a living matryoshka doll. It has bacteria living inside its cells, and those bacteria have more bacteria living… — Ed Yong Bacteria Copy Share Image
“Humans don't need to evolve a gene that can break down the carbohydrates in seaweed; if we swallow enough microbes that can… — Ed Yong Microbes Digest Copy Share Image
“Every major transition in the history of life- from single cell to multi-celled -from individuals to symbiotic Collectives has had to solve… — Ed Yong History Copy Share Image
“The procedure works along the same principles as a probiotic, but rather than adding just one strain of bacteria, or even 17,… — Ed Yong Organ transplant Copy Share Image
“In the 1990s, Taylor and his colleagues took these ideas into the field. They wanted to see if they could use an… — Ed Yong First time Copy Share Image
