Why we should love germs
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Version 0 of 1. Think of “The Germ Files” as a sort of dating guide — its author apparently does. Jason Tetro, a Canadian microbiologist, has been crazy about germs since he was a teenager, and this is his second book about them: “Whereas ‘The Germ Code’ was a narrative about our involuntary marriage with germs,” he notes in the introduction, “ ‘The Germ Files’ is more of a guide to improving the relationship.” It’s more a collection of essays than a narrative. Tetro considers how since the 1880s we have mainly thought about germs only in terms of how they could infect us — even though only 0.01 percent of the thousands of microbial species that regularly interact with humans are known to cause infection — and how only since the 1980s have we begun to appreciate how much good many microbes can do for us. He discusses the virtues of fermented fish; how to clean makeup brushes; how microbes consume us after death (section title: “You’ll never die alone”); how to fight bad breath with streptococci-infused chewing gum; the differences between the microbes that dogs and cats can bring home; the anatomy of flatulence. Tetro gets a gleeful kick out of all this. At one point, discussing the problem of certain very resistant infections in closed environments, he writes that there is a way to prevent the problem: “It’s called Microbial Dispersal Capacity Maximization. The process involves using a controllable vent to the outside world to increase the diversity of the bacterial population. . . . It’s also known as opening the windows.” And yes, there are useful sections on probiotics, antibiotics, gluten intolerance and so on. They’re just not as much fun. |