Wendy Moore reviews Ed Yong's book about microbes

温迪·摩尔（Wendy Moore）评论了埃德·扬（Ed Yong）关于微生物的书籍。

温迪·摩尔评论了艾德·杨关于微生物的书《微生物》，微生物大多是细菌，早在动物生命发展之前就已经在这个星球上存在了，且它们的寿命会比我们长。 肉眼看不见，但它们无处不在。它们存在于土壤、空气、岩石和水中，也存在于每一种生命形态中，从海藻、珊瑚到狗和人类。而且，正如艾德·杨在他那本引人入胜、极为重要的书中所解释的那样，我们与微生物打交道是冒风险的。

Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us. Invisible to the naked eye, they are ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks and water and are present within every form of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly absorbing and hugely important book, we mess with them at our peril.

每个物种都有自己的微生物群落，被称为“微生物组”，这些微生物不仅在物种之间，而且在个体之间以及个体不同部分之间都有所不同。令人惊讶的是，普通人体内的人体细胞数量约为30万亿，但微生物细胞的数量更高 -- 约39万亿。 艾德·杨告诉我们，我们只有50%的部分是人类。事实上，一些科学家甚至建议我们应该把每个物种及其微生物视为一个单一群体，称为“共生功能体”。

每个人体内都有只生活在胃、嘴或腋窝里的微生物，总的来说，它们与人和平共处。所以“坏“微生物这种说法是断章取义的。 只有在人类肠道(肠道微生物比银河系中的恒星还多)中“惬意度日”的微生物进入血液的时候，才会变得致命。这些微生物也在不断变化。 右手和左手只有六分之一微生物相同。并且，当然了，我们周围都是微生物。每次我们吃东西时，每吃一克食物就会随之吞下百万微生物; 我们还不断地与其他人类、宠物和整个世界交换微生物。

Every species has its own colony of microbes, called a 'microbiome', and these microbes vary not only between species but also between individuals and within different parts of each individual. What is amazing is that while the number of human cells in the average person is about 30 trillion, the number of microbial ones is higher – about 39 trillion. At best, Yong informs us, we are only 50 per cent human. Indeed, some scientists even suggest we should think of each species and its microbes as a single unit, dubbed a 'holobiont'.

这是个吸引人的话题，并且年轻的英国科学记者艾德·杨还是一个很老练的“向导”。他有一种技能，能以既易于理解又极为吸引人的措辞来解释复杂的科学，文笔轻盈而又华丽。 他带着使命。轻轻用手牵着我们进入微生物世界-- 一个奇异的外星球试图说服我们像他一样热爱微生物。到最后，我们的确爱上了它们。

在人类历史上的大部分时间里，我们都不知道微生物的存在。 第一个发现这些极其强大的生物的人，是荷兰镜头制造商安东尼·范·列文虎克，时间在17世纪70年代。他用自己设计的，能放大270倍的显微镜，检查了附近湖里的一滴水，发现里面充满着他称为“微生物”的微小生物。 直到过去了近200年后，法国生物学家路易斯·巴斯德的研究才得出了“有些微生物引起疾病“的结论。 正是他的“细菌理论“给细菌附上了持续到今天的糟糕形象。

In each human there are microbes that live only in the stomach, the mouth or the armpit and by and large they do so peacefully. So 'bad' microbes are just microbes out of context. Microbes that sit contentedly in the human gut (where there are more microbes than there are stars in the galaxy) can become deadly if they find their way into the bloodstream. These communities are constantly changing too. The right hand shares just one sixth of its microbes with the left hand. And, of course, we are surrounded by microbes. Every time we eat, we swallow a million microbes in each gram of food; we are continually swapping microbes with other humans, pets and the world at large.

艾德·杨的书在很多方面都在呼吁人们容忍微生物的存在，他指出，虽然有不到100种细菌会导致疾病，但还有成千上万种细菌在维持我们的健康方面发挥着至关重要的作用。这本书也承认，我们对细菌的态度是复杂的。 我们往往看到细菌带来的危险，而同时，我们却会买据说能培养“有益“细菌的酸奶和饮料。 在现实中，艾德·杨说，细菌不应该被视为朋友或敌人，也不是坏人或英雄。相反，我们应该明白，我们和细菌之间存在一种共生关系，是互相有利、互相有害的。

那么，这成百万个有机体做了什么呢?答案是它们几乎什么都做。 新的研究正在揭示细菌帮助消化、调节我们的免疫系统、排除毒素、产生维生素、影响我们的行为甚至对抗肥胖的方式。杨说:“它们实际上帮助我们成为了现在的自己”。但我们正面临一个日益严重的问题。 我们对卫生的苛求、对抗生素的过度使用以及不健康的低纤维饮食正在破坏细菌平衡，可能导致过敏和免疫问题(如炎症性肠病)发病率飙升。

It's a fascinating topic and Yong, a young British science journalist, is an extraordinarily adept guide. Writing with lightness and panache, he has a knack of explaining complex science in terms that are both easy to understand and totally enthralling. Yong is on a mission. Leading us gently by the hand, he takes us into the world of microbes – a bizarre, alien planet – in a bid to persuade us to love them as much as he does. By the end, we do.

最近的研究实际上颠覆了公认的标准。比如，有研究表明，过度使用家用洗涤剂和抗菌产品实际上会破坏那些通常能阻止更危险细菌靠近的微生物。还有研究表明，养狗作宠物会让孩子早期接触到各种各样的细菌，从而有助于预防他们以后过敏。

要读艾德·杨的书，就必须要准备好进入一个确实乏味的世界。 书中有些不太让人感兴趣的案例研究,比如有案例是关于一种正在彻底摧毁整个青蛙物种的真菌，而一种罕见的微生物细菌可以阻止这种真菌。另一个研究是关于携带发光细菌的乌贼，这种细菌可以保护它们免受捕食者的伤害。 然而，如果你能克服对书中某些调查的不喜欢，艾德·杨对细菌热情的原因就后变得清晰。 微生物世界是个神奇之地。之前，为了阻止蚊子传播登革热(一种每年感染4亿人的疾病)，蚊子身上被植入了一种细菌来阻止这种疾病。 在未来，我们控制微生物的能力意味着我们可以在建造建筑物的时候，在其墙壁中植入有用的微生物来抵抗感染。想象一下，我们会有外面覆有特殊微生物混合物的新生儿病房，这样婴儿有就会有生命最好的开始。

For most of human history we had no idea that microbes existed. The first man to see these extraordinarily potent creatures was a Dutch lens-maker called Antony van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s. Using microscopes of his own design that could magnify up to 270 times, he examined a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it teeming with tiny creatures he called 'animalcules'. It wasn't until nearly two hundred years later that the research of French biologist Louis Pasteur indicated that some microbes caused disease. It was Pasteur's 'germ theory' that gave bacteria the poor image that endures today.

Yong's book is in many ways a plea for microbial tolerance, pointing out that while fewer than one hundred species of bacteria bring disease, many thousands more play a vital role in maintaining our health. The book also acknowledges that our attitude towards bacteria is not a simple one. We tend to see the dangers posed by bacteria, yet at the same time we are sold yoghurts and drinks that supposedly nurture 'friendly' bacteria. In reality, says Yong, bacteria should not be viewed as either friends or foes, villains or heroes. Instead we should realise we have a symbiotic relationship, that can be mutually beneficial or mutually destructive.

What then do these millions of organisms do? The answer is pretty much everything. New research is now unravelling the ways in which bacteria aid digestion, regulate our immune systems, eliminate toxins, produce vitamins, affect our behaviour and even combat obesity. 'They actually help us become who we are,' says Yong. But we are facing a growing problem. Our obsession with hygiene, our overuse of antibiotics and our unhealthy, low-fibre diets are disrupting the bacterial balance and may be responsible for soaring rates of allergies and immune problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The most recent research actually turns accepted norms upside down. For example, there are studies indicating that the excessive use of household detergents and antibacterial products actually destroys the microbes that normally keep the more dangerous germs at bay. Other studies show that keeping a dog as a pet gives children early exposure to a diverse range of bacteria, which may help protect them against allergies later.

The readers of Yong's book must be prepared for a decidedly unglamorous world. Among the less appealing case studies is one about a fungus that is wiping out entire populations of frogs and that can be halted by a rare microbial bacterium. Another is about squid that carry luminescent bacteria that protect them against predators. However, if you can overcome your distaste for some of the investigations, the reasons for Yong's enthusiasm become clear. The microbial world is a place of wonder. Already, in an attempt to stop mosquitoes spreading dengue fever – a disease that infects 400 million people a year – mosquitoes are being loaded with a bacterium to block the disease. In the future, our ability to manipulate microbes means we could construct buildings with useful microbes built into their walls to fight off infections. Just imagine a neonatal hospital ward coated in a specially mixed cocktail of microbes so that babies get the best start in life.