«I contain multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life » Ed Yong – Publisher Ecco. 368 pages.

Did you know that our body is a vast colony where hundreds of billions of microbes flourish? And that these microscopic companions protect us from diseases, influence our behavior and are simply indispensable to life on Earth?

In this book, prefaced by Patrice Debré, you will discover how the coral microbiota contributes to the construction of imposing reefs, that of squids lead to a show of light. You will see how bacteria can interfere with the action of cancer drugs, modulate the immune system, influence gene expression and thus biological evolution.

The author invites us to take a new fresh look at ourselves, about the living beings around us and to consider ourselves less as individuals than as flourishing ecosystems. The original title “I contain multitudes” is in our view very evocative. Broadly philosophical in scope, the presentation probably invites us to reconsider the place of Human in his environment, less as Being superior, summit of evolution, but more and more modestly (really) as an actor of a whole!

Ed Yong is a science journalist and offers us the synthesis of his many researches taking care to multiply the examples to support his point of view. The work is very well documented and justified by numerous bibliographical references: seriousness!

RM