You updated your password.

Reset Password

Enter the email address you used to create your account. We will email you instructions on how to reset your password.

Forgot Your Email Address? Contact Us

Reset Your Password

SHOW
SHOW

The Hidden Power of Microbes

An acclaimed science educator explores the secret lives of microbes in 24 fascinating lectures.
The Hidden Power of Microbes is rated 5.0 out of 5 by 4.
  • y_2024, m_12, d_5, h_8
  • bvseo_bulk, prod_bvrr, vn_bulk_3.0.42
  • cp_1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_3
  • loc_en_CA, sid_80680, prod, sort_[SortEntry(order=SUBMISSION_TIME, direction=DESCENDING)]
  • clientName_teachco
  • bvseo_sdk, p_sdk, 3.2.1
  • CLOUD, getAggregateRating, 48.31ms
  • REVIEWS, PRODUCT
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Microbes! They are Everywhere!! For Good and Bad! Professor Melissa Booth delivers a very thorough review of the hidden power of microbes. Dr. Booth passionately and dynamically walks the learner through almost every path a entity could travel or encounter where microbe interaction could occur. This is a course everyone should view as it depicts both the good and bad scenarios one could meet. Melissa starts the course with a review of microbe basics and proceeds in 24 mesmerizing lectures to paint a mosaic of the microbe universe. Professor Booth covers microbe impact to life, the planet and universe.I especially enjoyed Dr. Booth's discussion of the gut microbiome and the symbiotic relationship between the host and microbes. She presents a very in-depth discussion of the human gut and the intricate dynamics of the gastrointestinal system, emphasizing the critical role of the microbiome and its symbiotic relationship with various microbial communities. Dr. Booth did an excellent job discussing zoonotic diseases and pandemics, in addition to a very interesting and critical review of antibiotic resistance, immunizations and vaccines. This is a marvelous lecture set, one worth watching again as I will. I highly recommend this course and the very dynamic professor! The learner will not be bored!! This is well with the investment!!
Date published: 2024-11-23
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Down to Earth Science - Microbes are Cool!!! Dr. Booth did a great job telling the story of microbes, and how important they are to life on Earth! There is so much I didn't know beforehand, but now feel like I have a good understanding. Her ability to make the most complex concepts approachable makes her a great teacher - I hope she does more courses!!!
Date published: 2024-11-19
Rated 5 out of 5 by from An excellent overview of current state of microbes I went to undergraduate in a healthcare field in late 70's. How the knowledge of microbes has changed in 50 years. I have also raised two children in 80's and when they were sick, they were given antibiotics. No one ever mentioned supplement with probiotics to replenish the microbial colony. They both suffered asthma as teenagers. Dr. Booth explains very well many aspects of microbial world. I had no idea till recently streptomycin, vancomycin were discovered in soil. She gave many insights as to what we can accomplish living with microbes harmoniously as they will continue to live on even though human species might not. However, the presentation regarding vaccines was too generalized. We have a long way to go regarding making vaccines safe and effective. I personally saw people getting lymphoma, thrombocytopenia by COVID-19 vaccines. My hope is that the scientific community will recognize the further research is needed to make safer vaccines for masses.
Date published: 2024-11-18
  • y_2024, m_12, d_5, h_8
  • bvseo_bulk, prod_bvrr, vn_bulk_3.0.42
  • cp_1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_1, tr_3
  • loc_en_CA, sid_80680, prod, sort_[SortEntry(order=SUBMISSION_TIME, direction=DESCENDING)]
  • clientName_teachco
  • bvseo_sdk, p_sdk, 3.2.1
  • CLOUD, getReviews, 4.32ms
  • REVIEWS, PRODUCT

Overview

Taught by acclaimed educator and microbiologist Dr. Melissa Booth, this course explores the teeming world of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes that control digestion, fermentation, and other processes vital to you and the natural world. You investigate the physiology and metabolism of microbes, when they cause disease, and their importance to agriculture and industry.

About

Melissa Booth

Once you learn about what's all around us and inside us, you'll never see things in quite the same way again.

INSTITUTION

The Science Communicator

Melissa Booth is the Founder, Principal Science Communicator, and Director of Training at The Science Communicator, a firm that helps scientists and other professionals improve their communication skills. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Applied Climate Studies program at Warren Wilson College. She earned a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Oklahoma State University. For more than 25 years, she was a research scientist and professor. She has appeared on national and public television and numerous radio shows and podcasts.

By This Professor

The Hidden Power of Microbes
854
The Hidden Power of Microbes

Trailer

Welcome to the Microbial Jungle

01: Welcome to the Microbial Jungle

Begin your study of the oldest and most widespread forms of life on Earth: microbes. Dr. Melissa Booth outlines the course and introduces Lina, the fictional character whose life will be explored from the perspective of the microbes that live in, on, and around her, from birth to adulthood. Learn how the microbes that colonize an infant during its earliest weeks influence long-term health.

27 min
The Human Microbiome

02: The Human Microbiome

Continue your tour of Lina’s microbiome by surveying the five major types of microbes: bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and viruses. Examine what they do and where they live in the human body. The statistics are astonishing, since just over half the cells in your body are microbes, comprising some 39 trillion microbial cells versus 30 trillion human cells. Plus, we harbor 380 trillion viruses!

28 min
Skin, Gut, and Respiratory Tract Microbes

03: Skin, Gut, and Respiratory Tract Microbes

Any part of the human body that has contact with the outside world is a potential homestead site for microbes. But why do our bodies tolerate their presence? Here, you’ll answer the question: What are these microbes doing for you? One of their important jobs is to disarm potentially harmful microorganisms. Discover how they also aid in digesting complex molecules such as gluten.

26 min
Fermentation: Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate

04: Fermentation: Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate

Follow the steps that transform cacao beans into chocolate as an example of fermentation—an intricate process mediated by different microbes. The ability of certain microorganisms to turn nutrients into energy in the absence of oxygen is what makes fermentation possible. Also, look at wine, cheese, and yogurt production, and consider the health benefits of fermented foods as well as the risks.

27 min
The Functions of Your Gut Microbiome

05: The Functions of Your Gut Microbiome

Explore the diverse environments of the human gut from a microbe’s point of view: the deadly acidic cauldron of the stomach, the constant antimicrobial rain in the small intestine, and the paradise of nutrients in the colon. Learn how good health depends on microbial fermentations churning away in our bellies. Every gut has its own unique mix of microbe species, but their functions are the same.

25 min
Can Microbes Control Your Mind and Behavior?

06: Can Microbes Control Your Mind and Behavior?

Microbes are known to make creatures do strange things, such as zombie ants that climb to a specific height to die and spread the infecting agent. Rabies is another example since it alters animal behavior to promote spread of the virus. Dr. Booth investigates whether microbes within us may hijack our minds for their own benefit. Discover that one line of defense is the blood-brain barrier.

26 min
How Lifestyle Influences Your Microbiome

07: How Lifestyle Influences Your Microbiome

Return to our fictional microbe host, Lina, who is now a toddler living in a rural setting. Compare her microbiome with that of her urban cousin, noting differences depending on pets, farm animals, siblings, playmates, and other factors. Evaluate the connection between allergies and exposure to different microbes. Also, consider the best diet to promote a healthy assortment of microorganisms.

26 min
When Is a Microbiome Helpful or Harmful?

08: When Is a Microbiome Helpful or Harmful?

Dig deeper into how microbes and hosts establish their symbiotic relationships, and how the human partnership with microbes can sometimes lead to chronic diseases. Find that some insects and animals have no microbiome at all. What they have instead is a readily digestible diet, with little or no assistance required from microorganisms. Dr. Booth also cautions against microbiome miracle cures.

26 min
How to Endure: Adapt, Be Small, and Go Quiet

09: How to Endure: Adapt, Be Small, and Go Quiet

The amazing adaptability of some microbes can create problems for us. A child’s earache is a good example, resulting from the changed environment in the narrow inner ear canal during a cold, transforming harmless or even beneficial microbes into troublemakers. Turn back the clock to the origin of life on Earth to see how microbes have evolved to flourish under the most punishing circumstances.

23 min
Survival of the Microbial Fittest

10: Survival of the Microbial Fittest

Cover the incessant war among microbes, which can lead to collateral damage in humans. Look at cases of competitive exclusion, and tactics such as frontal assault, chemotaxis, chemical weapons, and coordinated and even suicidal attacks—all in the struggle to stay on top. The array of strategies underscores the intricate relationship between the ecology of microbes and human health.

24 min
Cooperation among Microbes

11: Cooperation among Microbes

Microbes can be vicious competitors, but very often the fittest microbes aren’t the fastest or the toughest but the most cooperative. Explore the many forms of teamwork displayed by microorganisms. Discover that our multicellular ancestors must have been the outcome of a team effort of different microbes banding together and specializing to navigate the environment.

24 min
Zoonotic Diseases and Pandemics

12: Zoonotic Diseases and Pandemics

From the Black Death to COVID-19, humans are vulnerable to zoonotic diseases—those that are commonly transferred from animal reservoirs. Survey a range of these illnesses, including influenza, Lyme disease, leprosy, and various historical plagues. Zero in on the different mechanisms of pathogenesis, or the way a microbe that may otherwise be harmless attacks the body’s tissues, often lethally.

28 min
The Story of How Microbes Were Discovered

13: The Story of How Microbes Were Discovered

Ancient records show that physicians occasionally argued that invisible particles caused disease, but they were either ridiculed or ignored. With the invention of the microscope in the 1600s microbes were finally observed. However, not until the 1800s were they conclusively linked to scourges such as puerperal fever and tuberculosis. Trace the milestones in this medical detective story.

30 min
The Growing Threat of Antibiotic Resistance

14: The Growing Threat of Antibiotic Resistance

Catch up with Lina, whose young friend Sam has contracted an infection that won’t respond to antibiotics. This plight is increasingly common as decades of overuse of antibiotics has led to the evolution of resistance in many disease-causing bacteria. Are we entering the post-antibiotic era, when, once again, healthy people can be maimed or killed by minor injuries or common infections?

28 min
Viruses and Bacteriophages

15: Viruses and Bacteriophages

People generally think of viruses as the enemy, but these microbes play a much broader and often beneficial role in ecosystems. For example, bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect and kill specific types of bacteria. For some antibiotic-resistant infections, a specially targeted phage may be the best hope for a cure. Learn about the discovery of phages and their subsequent history.

23 min
Immunizations and the Discovery of Vaccines

16: Immunizations and the Discovery of Vaccines

Chart the history of vaccines, from traditional practices that protected against smallpox (although at the time no one knew why they worked) to today’s wide array of precision immunizations. Learn how vaccines stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight specific microbes and consider why Dr. Booth would like to retire the term “pathogen,” which stigmatizes some microbes as being bad.

24 min
Learning to Live in Extreme Environments

17: Learning to Live in Extreme Environments

The most life-threatening environments on, above, and below Earth typically harbor microbes that evolved to survive the harsh conditions. From the stratosphere to the ocean bottom to deep underground, microorganisms are truly everywhere. Probe some of the strategies they use to outwit extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, pH, and radiation. They’re not called “extremophiles” for nothing!

27 min
The Crucial Roles of Marine Microbes

18: The Crucial Roles of Marine Microbes

A drop of seawater contains about a million cells, each playing a vital role in planetary nutrient cycles and oxygen production. Investigate the evolution of marine microbes and their crucial roles within the biosphere. As a dominant force in biology, they rival only humans. Reflect on the effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide on marine life and the repercussions for terrestrial life.

25 min
How Microbes Make Soil

19: How Microbes Make Soil

Soil microbes are a key link in the planetary cycling of nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus—all essential for life. Dig through the topsoil down to bedrock to assess the types of microbial life and their roles in breaking down organic matter, making nitrogen available for plant growth, and enhancing soil structure. Examine the development of nitrogen fertilizers and their ecological impact.

23 min
How Plants and Microbes Feed the World

20: How Plants and Microbes Feed the World

Plants and microbes have been interacting and co-evolving for millions of years. Learn how every plant you see hosts an enormous diversity of microbes from root to leaf tip, improving the health of their hosts through enriched nutrition and protection from aggressive microbes. Also, look at probiotics in agriculture. As discussed earlier, they should always be used with caution.

29 min
Extraterrestrial Microbes

21: Extraterrestrial Microbes

Is there life beyond Earth? Could extraterrestrial microbes have seeded life on our planet? And what is life, anyway? Address these questions, drawing on research into the survivability of microorganisms in space and the habitability of different regions of the solar system. Zero in on the most promising candidates, among them Mars, the moons Europa and Enceladus, and the atmosphere of Venus.

27 min
A World without Microbes

22: A World without Microbes

You’ve heard of global efforts to save the whales, the pandas, the rainforest, and other endangered members of the biosphere. But who is speaking up for microbes? Consider what a microbe-free world would be like and whether the planet is heading inexorably in that direction. The “boy in the bubble” and germ-free mice give an inkling of the problems such a scenario would trigger.

27 min
The Cutting Edge of Microbe Research

23: The Cutting Edge of Microbe Research

Who would have guessed that a single-celled organism could generate electricity? Or build an internal magnetic GPS? Researchers are documenting an ever-growing list of the powers of microbes, inspiring biomedical and biotechnological innovations that have the potential to improve the lives of everyone. Explore the promise of microbial cancer killers, pharmaceutical factories, and power stations.

25 min
Using Microbes to Solve Humanity’s Problems

24: Using Microbes to Solve Humanity’s Problems

Our heroine Lina is now an adult, working in bioremediation to clean up water pollution. Bioremediation is a natural process that uses living organisms to degrade contaminants, and it is one of several applications of microbes covered here. See how the solution to sustainable agriculture, alternative food sources, climate change, and other daunting problems might just be microbes.

30 min