The Hidden Power of Microbes - Melissa Booth, The Great Courses

Category: Misc. Non-fiction, Science
Language: English
Keywords: Biology The Great Courses

Written by Melissa Booth, The Great Courses
Read by Melissa Booth
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
Release date: 11-08-24

Right this minute, your body is carrying roughly 38 trillion microbial cells along with it—and in the vast majority of cases, you couldn’t live without them. On top of that, you harbor around 380 trillion viruses, most of which are either beneficial or benign. The Hidden Power of Microbes draws back the curtain on this vast microworld in 24 half-hour lectures delivered by acclaimed science communicator Dr. Melissa Booth, research scientist, professor, and Founder and Principal of The Science Communicator, devoted to training scientists to tell accurate, compelling stories about their fields.

Dr. Booth covers the major types of microbes, the history of their discovery, their evolution and physiology, their role in human health and disease, their importance in agriculture and industry, their ubiquity in every corner of nature, and the possibility that they even exist beyond Earth. As a narrative tool, she introduces a fictional character named Lina. Throughout the course, you follow Lina’s experiences with the tiny organisms that she encounters and that colonize her—from birth through adulthood. Lina goes from almost zero microbial exposure in her mother’s womb to a wholesale invasion during birth and its aftermath. How is it that infants can survive—and indeed thrive—in this radical new environment?

The course shows how everyone develops their own unique “microbiome,” shaped by factors like diet, environment, and daily interactions. Disease can occur when this intricate ecosystem is disrupted, which may result not only from invading pathogens but also from normally beneficial microorganisms reacting to changes, such as injury or a weakened immune system.

Dr. Booth describes the metabolism of bacteria, yeast, viruses, and other microbes, making their intricate machinery understandable and linking it to processes such as digestion, fermentation, and antibiotic activity. True to her science communicating calling, Dr. Booth turns microbiology into a thrilling detective story!