How The Microbes Inside Us Went From Enemies To Purported Superhealers

"Microbes have always ruled the planet but for the first time in history, they are fashionable," writes Ed Yong in his new book, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, on sale Tuesday.

Yong, a U.K.-based science writer, describes how humans ignored, feared and then lauded the "microscopic menagerie" living inside us and other animals. He explains how these resident bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses, known collectively as the microbiome, form intimate partnerships with their hosts — contributing to everything from the glow of a squid's light organ to the development of our own immune systems....
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/09/489171611/how-the-microbes-inside-us-went-from-enemies-to-purported-superhealers?ft=nprml&f=1001