Microbiomes: A Very Short Introduction

Humans and other organisms harbour microbiomes, communities of microorganisms which are mostly beneficial but can sometimes cause disease. This book explains how and why our health and wellbeing depend on our resident microbiomes, providing readers with the knowledge to judge claims about microbiome-based applications.

Angela E. Douglas is the Emerita Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor of Insect Physiology and Toxicology at Cornell University. She is the author of several books on microbiomes and beneficial microorganisms, including Fundamentals of Microbiome Science: How Microbes Shape Animal Biology (2018) and Insect Associations with Beneficial Microorganisms (forthcoming), as well as many research articles.

Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
1: Living with microbes
2: How to get and keep a microbiome
3: Microbiomes, nutrition, and metabolic health
4: Microbiomes, the brain, and behaviour
5: Microbiomes and infectious disease
6: Plant microbiomes in agriculture and food production
7: Microbial therapies and healthy microbiomes
Glossary
Further reading