How Studying Bacteria Revolutionized the Understanding of Evolution — Introduction David Quammen, the detective-science writer, discovered Ford Doolittle’s articles on evolution in 2013 and was immediately struck by their implications. Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) and microbial dynamics proved that the Tree of Life was wrong. The pattern by which species evolve is not simply by divergence from a common trunk…

There are only different scales of ecosystems — There is no life without interactions with other living forms. From its very beginnings, life has always been a dynamic soup defined by its interplays — trophisms, competitions, collaborations, and all of their variants. At whichever scale we look, the life that is given to us comes from the intertwined…

What probiotics can do for athletes’ digestion, immune health and performance — In athletics, competitors are all at the top of their game and seeking the 1% difference that will snatch them the victory. With the emergence of microbiome science, and increasing understanding of the interplay between diet, microbes, and an individual’s health and performance, it makes sense for the new generation…

Part 2: Microbes as causes of disease, and the quest for vaccines — An early impression of rabies’ dangers In October 1831 in the countryside, 9-year-old Louis Pasteur was a testimony of the suffering caused by a mad dog bite to a farmer. He smelled and heard the scream as the hot iron melted the man’s flesh to neutralize the poison. …

Part 1: the savior of beet, wine, and silk industries — Pasteur’s Youth, From Boy to Chemist As a boy in the 1820s, Pasteur grew up in Arbois, France. He spent a lot of time in books and had the ambition to teach other boys. He became an instructor and then an assistant teacher in Bezançon. …

Travel back 4 centuries, to Delft and the unexpected first step of microbiology — If you are well-bathed in the probiotics world, read the stories of microbiology, or visited the Micropia museum in Amsterdam, of course, you’ve heard of Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek. But what do you really know about the man and his discoveries? Meet the simple merchant who made history. Get acquainted with…

A pragmatic guide towards a low-carbon lifestyle transition, from “How Bad are Bananas” by Mike Berners-Lee — The heat waves in Europe, accelerating forest fires, watching my garden and nature across the continent wither dry, and the absence of political will to transition to a low-carbon economy have prompted an unprecedented surge of eco-anxiety in me. But panic won’t help. What will? …

All you need to know about this trendy fermented drink — Chances are you’ve heard of kombucha before and maybe have even had a taste of this strange drink, but what it really is and what benefits it holds still remain a mystery to you. This is why I scouted scientific reviews and wrote this. What is kombucha? Kombucha is a mildly sweet and…

As if you needed a reason for that chill — Diversity In the matter of gut microbiome ecology, scientists still don’t know precisely what is a healthy microbiota. Everyone has a different setup, some bacteria can be good markers or bad markers depending on the rest of the environment and their quantity. …