In Defense of Microbiomes

In “The War on Bugs” (March/April 2013), contributor Sharon Begley explores the growing medical research on the health benefits of naturally occurring “good” bacteria in and on our bodies.

In this video, microbiologist Jonathan Eisen, professor at the University of California Davis Genome Center, explains how these good microbes may actually be our first line of defense against infection, disease, and lasting medical conditions—and how antibiotics may be doing more harm than good.