Missing Microbes

Missing Microbes

Far beneath our skin exists an unfathomable, ancient universe - an internal Eden that is critical to our health. Dr Martin Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human 'microbiome', unfurling its inner workings and evolution, in a book that stands as the Silent Spring of our day.

For thousands of years, bacteria and human cells have co-existed in a relationship that has ensured the health and equilibrium of our body. But now, much like the natural world outside of us, our internal environment is being irrevocably destroyed. The culprit: some of our most revered medical and social advances, from antibiotics to sterile housekeeping, which appear to be linked to the epidemics of asthma, eczema, obesity, and other chronic diseases plaguing modern society.

Blaser sounds a provocative alarm that we ignore at our peril.

'Infectious disease specialist Blaser makes an impassioned plea for maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystem that exists in and on our bodies: the human microbiome...Credit Blaser for displaying the wonders and importance of a vast underworld we are jeopardizing but cannot live without' Kirkus

Martin Blaser is a world-renowned expert on the role of bacteria in human disease. He is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at New York University, where he directs the Human Microbiome Program, and his research has appeared in journals including BMJ and Lancet. Blaser and his work have been covered by the BBC, CNN, Wired, New Scientist, Nature, The New Yorker, and others. He lives in New York.

Missing Microbes
Allen and Unwin
Author: Martin Blaser
ISBN: 9781780744414
RRP: $29.99