Missing Microbes

Tracing one scientist's journey toward understanding the crucial importance of the microbiome, this revolutionary book will take readers to the forefront of trail-blazing research while revealing the damage to our health that is caused by overuse of antibiotics, including its contribution to the rise of obesity, asthma, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.

In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome where for hundreds of thousands of years, bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now, this invisible Eden is being irrevocably damaged by one of our most revered medical advances - antibiotics. Antibiotics threaten the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes, which would have terrible health consequences. Taking us into both the lab and the field where these troubling effects can be witnessed firsthand, Dr. Blaser not only provides cutting-edge evidence for the adverse effects of antibiotics, but also tells us what we can do to avoid even more catastrophic health problems in the future.