Think small! Microbes are tinier than the dot at the end of this sentence, yet they can make humans sicker than dogs, dogs sicker than humans, jump from animal to human and keep scientists guessing when and where the next disease will appear.
Discover how doctors diagnosed one man’s mysterious infection, the role that animals play as hosts for disease, and why the rate of emerging diseases is increasing worldwide.
Also, why your kitchen is a biosafety hazard, and how the Human Microbiome Project will tally all the microbes on – and in – you.
Plus, the extreme places on Earth where microbes thrive and what it suggests for the existence of alien life. And, how one strain of bacteria helped a farmer grow a pumpkin the weight of a small car!
Listen to individual segments here:
Part 1: Mysterious Illness
Part 2: Vectors
Part 3: Epidemiology
Part 4: Food Safety
Part 5: Extremophiles
Part 6: The Great Pumpkin
Part 7: Growth Bacteria
Part 8: Personal Bacteria