Think âweâ not âme.â
I Contain Multitudes offers a new lens on life. With an eye on microbesâmicroscopic single-celled organismsâlarger creatures such as ourselves suddenly look very different. Each of us is a more of a society than an individual. Only about half the cells in or on our bodies are human. The rest make up a menagerie of microbes. Microbes produce chemicals and vitamins that we canât produce on our own, they help digest food, shape development, and influence behavior.
Ed Yong, author of the New York Times bestseller I Contain Multitudes, has teamed up with HHMI Tangled Banks Studios for a series that explores the strange, wondrous, and vital realm of the microscopic. Meet scientists and the microbes that captivate them. Watch fascinating animal behavior that makes sense only in light of a microbial backstory. Discover how the living world that we see is shaped by an invisible world.
Our embrace of microbes, and theirs of us, is a pillar of life on Earth.