Quote by Ed Yong

“Drinking lots of alcohol makes the gut leakier, allowing microbes to more readily influence the brain. Could that help to explain why alcoholics often…

— Ed Yong

“No, the algae were making something that killed the corals via their own microbes. That something turned out to be dissolved organic carbon (DOC);…

— Ed Yong

“Patterson died in 2014 but Mazmanian is now carrying on his friend's work. His long-term goal is to develop a bacterium that people can…

— Ed Yong

“Mucus is made from giant molecules called mucins, each consisting of a central protein backbone with thousands of sugar molecules branching off it. These…

— Ed Yong

“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 planet’s entire…

— Ed Yong

“Many of the plants that the spider mite targets can release hydrogen cyanide when their tissues are breached. This substance is extraordinarily inimical to…

— Ed Yong

“When microbiologists first started cataloguing the human microbiome in its entirety they hoped to discover a "core" microbiome: a group of species that everyone…

— Ed Yong

“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 go looking…

— Ed Yong

“Howler monkeys all defecate at the same time.”

— Ed Yong

“The variations that exist between the body parts dwarf those that exist between people. Put simply, the bacteria on your forearm are more similar…

— Ed Yong

“It earns its keep. As it digests HMOs, B. infantis releases short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that feed an infant's gut cells - so while…

— Ed Yong

“When Hamiltonella's genome was sequenced, the real reason behind the bacterium's protective powers became apparent: about half of its DNA actually belonged to a…

— Ed Yong