Tetro - The germ files : the surprising ways microbes can improve your health and life (and how to protect yourself from the bad ones)

Jason Tetro has provided an owners manual for the trillions of personal organisms that we cannot live without. Its an easy-read guide to how they participate in health, food, beauty, and even sex. It will change the way you look at your entire being.

Bob McDonald, host of CBC Radios Quirks & Quarks

Reading this book is like going on safari with a smart and experienced adventure guide. Sit back as Tetro brings into focus a world of magnificent microscopic creatures, and reveals what their fascination behaviour means for human well-being.

Ziya Tong, host of Daily Planet, Discovery Channel

When you flush the toilet, keep the lid down. If you want fresh breath, chew a stick of gum for two minutes. The Germ Files is filled with incredibly practical advice like that, backed by the latest scientific evidence. Jason Tetro curates a breezy take on the bacteria, viruses, fungi and other little beasties among us. But behind the easy read is an important message. Some germs are our best friends. Others are our worst enemies. Knowing which is which makes your life better and might one day even save it.

Brian Goldman, host of CBC Radios White Coat, Black Art

A refreshing and unique perspective on a complicated, hidden world. Whereas most accounts of germs dwell on the grisly details of the infections they cause, Jason Tetro reminds us that the reality is far more nuanced, and that in many respects our lives and theirs are entwined in a delicately balanced dance. The Germ Code is a highly readable and enjoyable overview of that relationship.

Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine

With The Germ Code, first-time author Jason Tetro has delivered an important book that brings the world of microorganisms entertainingly to life. Tetro has a breezy style and relishes the interesting tale. There are more than enough absorbing stories to keep the reader hooked.

Toronto Star

COPYRIGHT 2016 JASON TETRO

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisheror in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, license from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agencyis an infringement of the copyright law.

Doubleday Canada and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House Canada Limited

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Tetro, Jason, author
The germ files : the surprising ways microbes can improve your health and life (and how to protect yourself from the bad ones) / Jason Tetro.

ISBN 978-0-385-68577-1 (paperback).ISBN 978-0-385-68578-8 (epub)
1. BacteriaPopular works. 2. BacteriaSocial aspectsPopular works. 3. Germ theory of diseasePopular works. 4. MicrobiologyPopular works. I. Title.
QR56.T483 2016 579.3 C2015-906191-1
C2015-906192-X

Cover and interior illustrations: Macrovector/Shutterstock.com

Published in Canada by Doubleday Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited

www.penguinrandomhouse.ca

v3.1

To Anastassia Voronova

ARE YOU A GERMOPHOBE? Do you fear the microbes that occupy every inch of our planet? Does the mere mention of bacteria, viruses, fungi, or amoebae make you want to find the nearest sink basin or hand-sanitizer station?

This fear is entirely natural given that germs have been considered our enemies for over a century. Weve declared war on them, developed entire industries to combat them, and devoted ample time and space in the media to describe how they harm human health. Look at the American reaction to the Ebola scare of 2014. Although the actual risk of contracting the disease was limited to a small room in a Dallas hospital, an entire country was frozen in fear.

It may not seem so from this example and several othersfrom the flu pandemic of 2010 to the appearance of measles at Disneylandbut minds are changing. Germs are no longer viewed solely as a scourge. Thanks to the work of tens of thousands of researchers worldwide, we have gained a new appreciation for these creatures. These excellent scientists regularly venture into the microscopic world to observe the many varieties of germs and how they influence our health and our environment. Although there are some bad actors, most inhabitants of the microbial world mean us no harm, and may even benefit our lives.

Over most of the past three decades, I have been fortunate to be able to take part in this never-ending fact-finding mission. My fascination when I first started studying germs as a teenager was unbridled and has never waned. Whenever I think I have seen it allevery manner of incredible microbial phenomenona new trait of a bacterium, virus, fungi, protozoa, or worm is discovered, amazing me as a scientist and sustaining my personal curiosity and my hunger to know more. When this new-found characteristic somehow relates to the lives and welfare of human beings, my fascination is unconfined.

The source of this wonder comes down to a basic but incredibly important fact: we need germs to live. They surround us and outnumber us, and thousands of species call our bodies their home. There are far more good germs than badonly 0.1 percent of the thousands of species regularly interacting with us are known to cause infectionbut our focus nonetheless tends to be on the latter. After all, it is far more interesting to discuss a killer than a helper.

In the past decade, weve gained quite a bit of insight into how the friendly microbes affect all aspects of our lives and our health. We now know how hundreds of species interact with us, and more importantly, what their presence can mean for our health, our relationships, and well, the way we smell. But the information is rather one-way and tends not to acknowledge that we too can influence our microbes to help keep us in the best of health.

My goal when I began writing this book was to ensure that every piece within it would have some bearing on our daily lives. Whereas The Germ Code was a narrative about our involuntary marriage with germs, The Germ Files is more of a guide to improving the relationship. You can jump in at any point and learn about the incredible role microbes play in our lives, as well as discovering ways to bring harmony between the body and the bugs. And the information is well-founded, on the conclusions of well over 1,000 scientific articles, chapters and reports.

As a final noteif you are a germophobe, I truly hope you read this book. I promise the content will not make the situation worse. Indeed, I hope the information will comfort you and convince you that for the most part, germs are not out to get us; they want to live with us. If we do our part, we can make the relationship work to our mutual benefit.