The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes

ROB KNIGHT

WITH BRENDAN BUHLER

TED, the TED logo, and TED Books are trademarks of TED Conferences, LLC

TED BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of TED Conferences, LLC

Cover and interior design by MGMT. design Illustrations by Olivia de Salve Villedieu

© 2015 by Rob Book. All rights reserved.

© E. Valkina, translation into Russian, 2015

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2015

Publishing house CORPUS ®

* * *

To my parents, Alison and John, with gratitude for their genes, their ideas and their microbes

Preface

We know who you are: a human being, a two-legged animal with infinite possibilities of mind, heir to all things, who has never fully read a single user agreement - just check the right box. Now meet me, it's you too: trillions of tiny creatures living in your eyes, ears and vast estates called your intestines. And this inner microcosm can change your understanding of your illnesses, your health and yourself.

Thanks to new technologies (many of them developed in the last few years), scientists now know more about the microscopic life forms inside us than ever before. And what we learn is amazing. These single-celled organisms - microbes - turned out to be not only much more numerous than we thought, they live in incredible quantities in almost every corner of our body and play a much more important role than we could ever imagine: so many aspects of our life depend on them. health and even our personality.

The collection of microscopic creatures for which our body serves as a home is called the human microbiota (sometimes also microflora and microfauna), and the collection of their genes is the human microbiome. And, as often happens with scientific discoveries, new facts about the microworld force us to humble our egos. Astronomy has already explained to us that our planet is not at all the center of the Universe; evolution has taught us that man is just one of the animal species. Mapping the human microbiome teaches us that in the house of our body, our own voice is drowned in a chorus of independent (and interdependent) life forms with their own aspirations and agendas.

How many microorganisms are there inside us? You are made up of about ten trillion human cells—but your body contains about a hundred trillion microbial cells. That is, you are, to a great extent, not you.

But this does not mean that a person is just a container for tiny creatures that accidentally get inside his body and spread diseases. In fact, we live in balance with the entire community of microorganisms that inhabit us. Their role is not limited to that of passive passengers - they participate in fundamental life processes, including digestion, immune responses and even behavior.

The collection of microbes within us represents something like an amalgamation of different communities. Different groups of species inhabit different parts of the body, each having specialized functions. The microbes that live in the mouth are different from those that live on the skin or in the intestines. We are not just individuals; each of us is an ecosystem.

The diversity of microorganisms helps explain even such individual characteristics that we are accustomed to attribute to chance or bad luck. Let's say why some of us love mosquitoes so much? For example, these little demons hardly bite me, while they fly to my friend Amanda like bees to honey. It turns out that some of us really tastes better to mosquitoes, and the main reason for this selective “appetite” is the differences in the composition of the microbial communities that live on our skin (more on this in Chapter 1).

And that's not all: the variety of microbes that live on and in us is simply amazing. You've probably heard that when compared to DNA, we humans are all about the same: our genome is 99.99% identical to the genome of any other person, for example your neighbor. But this does not apply to the microflora of your intestines: only 10% of microbes may be the same.

This can explain the huge differences between people - from differences in weight to dissimilar allergies, from the likelihood of getting sick to the level of anxiety. We are just beginning to systematize – and understand – this vast microcosm, but the conclusions of the first studies are already stunning.

The infinite diversity of the microbial world is especially impressive when you consider that just forty years ago we had no idea how numerous single-celled organisms are and the incredible number of species they contain. Prior to this, the basic principles for the classification of living organisms were based on Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species,” published in 1859. Darwin depicted a tree of evolution, grouping all organisms according to common physical characteristics: short-beaked finches, long-beaked finches, and so on; and for a long time this principle remained the basis of classification and taxonomy.

Traditional ideas about life were based on what people could see in the world around them - with the naked eye or through a microscope. Larger organisms were divided into plants, animals and fungi. The remaining single-celled organisms fell into two broad categories: protists (protozoa) and bacteria. As far as plants, animals and fungi are concerned, we were right. But our ideas about single-celled organisms turned out to be completely erroneous.

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Description: We live in an era of a real revolution in microbiology. The latest technologies have allowed scientists to immerse themselves in the world of microscopic creatures that inhabit our bodies and make amazing discoveries in this world. It turns out that microbes, which live in incredible quantities in almost every corner of our body, play a much more important role than we previously thought: not only our physical health depends on them, they determine our mood, our tastes and our very personality. We learn about these scientific breakthroughs first-hand: the author of the book, Rob Knight, is one of the leading modern microbiologists, creating the science of the future before our eyes.

Look what's inside you. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality Rob Knight

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Title: Look what's inside you. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality
Author: Rob Knight
Year: 2015
Genre: Medicine, Other educational literature, Foreign educational literature

About the book “Look What's Inside You. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality - Rob Knight

We live in an era of a real revolution in microbiology. The latest technologies have allowed scientists to immerse themselves in the world of microscopic creatures that inhabit our bodies and make amazing discoveries in this world. It turns out that microbes, which live in incredible quantities in almost every corner of our body, play a much more important role than we previously thought: not only our physical health depends on them, they determine our mood, our tastes and our very personality. We learn about these scientific breakthroughs first-hand: the author of the book, Rob Knight, is one of the leading modern microbiologists, creating the science of the future before our eyes.

On our website about books, you can download the site for free without registration or read online the book “Look What's Inside You. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality" Rob Knight in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and real pleasure from reading. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For beginning writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you yourself can try your hand at literary crafts.

Quotes from the book “Look What's Inside You. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality - Rob Knight

The microbial community on your hand is very different from similar communities of other people (in terms of species diversity - by an average of 85%), which means that each of us, in addition to the usual ones, also has microbial fingerprints.

What's more, we discovered that the microbes that live on your left hand are different from those on your right. You can rub your hands, clap your hands, and touch the same surfaces with both hands—each will still develop a distinct microbial community.

The microbes that live on our skin - like all other microbes - do not necessarily exist specifically for our benefit. But they, being conscientious residents, really help us a lot: just by the fact that they live on us, they prevent other, harmful microbes from infecting us.

Book:“Look what's inside you. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality"

Original name: Follow Your Gut. The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes

Out: 2015

Publisher: Corpus

Language: Russian (translated from English)

about the author

Rob Knight is a famous microbiologist, one of the pioneers in the study of microbes living in the human body. Professor of pediatrics, head of the microbiology laboratory at the University of California at San Diego, co-founder of the American Gut and Earth Microbiome research projects - all of Knight’s credentials and achievements are difficult to list. As a science journalist, he writes the IAmA column on Reddit, where he answers user questions about microbes, and writes entertaining books on his topics. A serious scientist with a gift for writing - what more could you ask for?

About the book

So this is a book from the TED Books series. The series is based on lectures from the famous educational project TED - reading these books will complement listening to the lectures very well, we recommend you try it. And, accordingly, the author of the book is one of the TED speakers.

Rob Knight argues that each person should be considered an ecosystem in itself, in which trillions of microbes live. The book talks about the proximity of thousands of varieties of microbes - the microbes of the left hand are one, and the ones in the right are different, and the microbes of the mouth will never settle in the nostrils (yay!). Or, for example. I liked this postulate: “the microbial creatures on women’s hands, as a rule, are more diverse than on men’s, and this difference persists, even despite hand washing.”

Rob and a group of scientists have gone further than other researchers - they propose to blame microbes for mood swings, predetermining our preferences and shaping personality! That is why experts urge as soon as possible to learn, if not control, then interact with these small creatures.

About the publication

We meet the book by its dust jacket - bright, matte with glossy black stripes, it is pleasant to hold and leaf through such a book. We had a dispute with the paper in the editorial office: it tastes, smells and color like coated paper, but in the book it is indicated that it is offset. Overall a good paper.

The book format is convenient for traveling on the subway to work and back - only 76x108 mm. True, it won’t last long, but here we will please you: Corpus publishing house has already released three more books in this series. Collect everything!

Look what's inside you. How the microbes living in our bodies determine our health and our personality

The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes

ROB KNIGHT

WITH BRENDAN BUHLER

TED, the TED logo, and TED Books are trademarks of TED Conferences, LLC

TED BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of TED Conferences, LLC

Cover and interior design by MGMT. design Illustrations by Olivia de Salve Villedieu

© 2015 by Rob Book. All rights reserved.

© E. Valkina, translation into Russian, 2015

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2015

Publishing house CORPUS ®

To my parents, Alison and John, with gratitude for their genes, their ideas and their microbes

We know who you are: a human being, a two-legged animal with infinite possibilities of mind, heir to all things, who has never fully read a single user agreement - just check the right box. Now meet me, it's you too: trillions of tiny creatures living in your eyes, ears and vast estates called your intestines. And this inner microcosm can change your understanding of your illnesses, your health and yourself.

Thanks to new technologies (many of them developed in the last few years), scientists now know more about the microscopic life forms inside us than ever before. And what we learn is amazing. These single-celled organisms - microbes - turned out to be not only much more numerous than we thought, they live in incredible quantities in almost every corner of our body and play a much more important role than we could ever imagine: so many aspects of our life depend on them. health and even our personality.

The collection of microscopic creatures for which our body serves as a home is called the human microbiota (sometimes also microflora and microfauna), and the collection of their genes is the human microbiome. And, as often happens with scientific discoveries, new facts about the microworld force us to humble our egos. Astronomy has already explained to us that our planet is not at all the center of the Universe; evolution has taught us that man is just one of the animal species. Mapping the human microbiome teaches us that in the house of our body, our own voice is drowned in a chorus of independent (and interdependent) life forms with their own aspirations and agendas.

How many microorganisms are there inside us? You are made up of about ten trillion human cells—but your body contains about a hundred trillion microbial cells. That is, you are, to a great extent, not you.

But this does not mean that a person is just a container for tiny creatures that accidentally get inside his body and spread diseases. In fact, we live in balance with the entire community of microorganisms that inhabit us. Their role is not limited to that of passive passengers - they participate in fundamental life processes, including digestion, immune responses and even behavior.

The collection of microbes within us represents something like an amalgamation of different communities. Different groups of species inhabit different parts of the body, each having specialized functions. The microbes that live in the mouth are different from those that live on the skin or in the intestines. We are not just individuals; each of us is an ecosystem.

The diversity of microorganisms helps explain even such individual characteristics that we are accustomed to attribute to chance or bad luck. Let's say why some of us love mosquitoes so much? For example, these little demons hardly bite me, while they fly to my friend Amanda like bees to honey. It turns out that some of us really tastes better to mosquitoes, and the main reason for this selective “appetite” is the differences in the composition of the microbial communities that live on our skin (more on this in Chapter 1).

And that's not all: the variety of microbes that live on and in us is simply amazing. You've probably heard that when compared to DNA, we humans are all about the same: our genome is 99.99% identical to the genome of any other person, for example your neighbor. But this does not apply to the microflora of your intestines: only 10% of microbes may be the same.

This can explain the huge differences between people - from differences in weight to dissimilar allergies, from the likelihood of getting sick to the level of anxiety. We are just beginning to systematize – and understand – this vast microcosm, but the conclusions of the first studies are already stunning.

The infinite diversity of the microbial world is especially impressive when you consider that just forty years ago we had no idea how numerous single-celled organisms are and the incredible number of species they contain. Prior to this, the basic principles of the classification of living organisms were based on Charles Darwin's book “The Origin of Species,” published in 1859. Darwin depicted a tree of evolution, grouping all organisms according to common physical characteristics: short-beaked finches, long-beaked finches, and so on; and for a long time this principle remained the basis of classification and taxonomy.

Traditional ideas about life were based on what people could see in the world around them - with the naked eye or through a microscope. Larger organisms were divided into plants, animals and fungi. The remaining single-celled organisms fell into two broad categories: protists (protozoa) and bacteria. As far as plants, animals and fungi are concerned, we were right. But our ideas about single-celled organisms turned out to be completely erroneous.

In 1977, American microbiologists Carl Woese and George E. Fox proposed a new version of the “tree of life,” based on a comparison of different forms of life at the cellular level using ribosomal ribonucleic acid, a relative of DNA that is present in every cell and is involved in protein synthesis. The picture was stunning. Woese and Fox discovered that single-celled organisms are more diverse than all plants and animals combined. As it turned out, animals, plants, mushrooms; all people, jellyfish, dung beetles; any thread of seaweed, any patch of moss, California redwoods reaching upward; all lichens and forest mushrooms - all living things that we see around - are just three processes at the end of one branch of the evolutionary tree. Its main inhabitants are single-celled organisms: bacteria, archaea (which were first identified as a separate group by Woese and Fox), yeast and some other life forms.

Only in the last few years has there been a breakthrough in understanding the microlife within us, which we owe to new technologies, most notably the improvement of DNA sequencing and the explosion in computer power. Today, through a process called next-generation sequencing, we can take samples of cells from different parts of the body, quickly analyze the microbial DNA they contain, compare and combine it with information from other organs, to identify the thousands of species of microorganisms that call our bodies home. . In this way we discover bacteria, archaea, yeasts and other single-celled organisms (particularly eukaryotes) whose combined genomes are longer than our own.