Describes the origins and processes of the nineteenth-century French scientist's quest to understand microbes

This is the only book that tells both sides of the story of germs: that they are critically important for our health and that the dangers of emerging pathogens continue to wreak havoc in our bodies and around the world. With straight-forward and engaging writing, infectious diseases physician Phillip Peterson surveys how our understanding of viruses has changed throughout history, from early plagues and pandemics to more recent outbreaks like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and Coronavirus. Microbes also takes on contemporary issues like the importance of vaccinations in the face of the growing anti-vaxxer movement, as well as the rise of cutting-edge health treatments like fecal transplants. Peterson relays his first-hand experience dealing with an unprecedented emergence of new microbial threats. Yet at the same time he has witnessed the astounding recent discoveries of the crucial role of the microbes that colonize our body surfaces in human health. Microbes explains for general readers where these germs came from, what they do to and for us, and what can be done to stop the bad actors and foster the benefactors.

Examining the enormous potential of microbiome manipulation to improve health Associations between the composition of the intestinal microbiome and many human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer, have been elegantly described in the past decade. Now, whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and precision gene-editing techniques are being combined with centuries-old therapies, such as fecal microbiota transplantation, to translate current research into new diagnostics and therapeutics to treat complex diseases. Bugs as Drugs provides a much-needed overview of microbes in therapies and will serve as an excellent resource for scientists and clinicians as they carry out research and clinical studies on investigating the roles the microbiota plays in health and disease. In Bugs as Drugs, editors Robert A. Britton and Patrice D. Cani have assembled a fascinating collection of reviews that chart the history, current efforts, and future prospects of using microorganisms to fight disease and improve health. Sections cover traditional uses of probiotics, next-generation microbial therapeutics, controlling infectious diseases, and indirect strategies for manipulating the host microbiome. Topics presented include: How well-established probiotics support and improve host health by improving the composition of the intestinal microbiota of the host and by modulating the host immune response. The use of gene editing and recombinant DNA techniques to create tailored probiotics and to characterize next-generation beneficial microbes. For example, engineering that improves the anti-inflammatory profile of probiotics can reduce the number of colonic polyps formed, and lactobacilli can be transformed into targeted delivery systems carrying therapeutic proteins or bioengineered bacteriophage. The association of specific microbiota composition with colorectal cancer, liver diseases, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The gut microbiota has been proposed to serve as an organ involved in regulation of inflammation, immune function, and energy homeostasis. Fecal microbiota transplantation as a promising treatment for numerous diseases beyond C. difficile infection. Practical considerations for using fecal microbiota transplantation are provided, while it is acknowledged that more high-quality evidence is needed to ascertain the importance of strain specificity in positive treatment outcomes. Because systems biology approaches and synthetic engineering of microbes are now high-throughput and cost-effective, a much wider range of therapeutic possibilities can be explored and vetted. If you are looking for online access to the latest clinical microbiology content, please visit www.wiley.com/learn/clinmicronow.

A single source of answers to questions average people are asking. Appeals to a diverse readership, including biologists, doctors, teachers, students, lawyers, environmentalists, and average citizens.

"Reinventing the Wheel is equal parts popular science, history, and muckraking. Over the past hundred and fifty years, dairy farming and cheesemaking have been transformed, and this book explores what has been lost along the way. Today, using cutting-edge technologies like high-throughput DNA sequencing, scientists are beginning to understand the techniques of our great-grandparents. The authors describe how geneticists are helping conservationists rescue rare dairy cow breeds on the brink of extinction, microbiologists are teaching cheesemakers to nurture the naturally occurring microbes in their raw milk rather than destroying them, and communities of cheesemakers are producing "real" cheeses that reunite farming and flavor, rewarding diversity and sustainability at every level."--Provided by publisher.