Meet the microscopic life in your home -- and on your face
Behold the microscopic jungle in and around you: tiny organisms living on your cheeks, under your sofa and in the soil in your backyard. We have an adversarial relationship with these microbes -- we sanitize, exterminate and disinfect them -- but according to microbiologist Anne Madden, they're sources of new technologies and medicines waiting to be discovered. These microscopic alchemists aren't gross, Madden says -- they're the future.
1,513,248 views | Anne Madden • TED 2017 ~~July 2022Anne Madden
Microbiologist, inventor and strategist
Whether brewing better beer, discovering novel antibiotics or chronicling the lives of the microscopic creatures living in the dust under the couch, Anne Madden seeks to understand and utilize the microbial world around us.
I want you to touch your face. Go on. What do you feel? Soft? Squishy? It's you, right? You're feeling you? Well, it's not quite true. You're actually feeling thousands of microscopic creatures that live on our face and fingers. You're feeling some of the fungi that drifted down from the air ducts today. They set off our allergies and smell of mildew. You're feeling some of the 100 billion bacterial cells that live on our skin. They've been munching away at your skin oils and replicating, producing the smells of body odor. You're likely even touching the fecal bacteria that sprayed onto you the last time you flushed a toilet, or those bacteria that live in our water pipes and sprayed onto you with your last shower. Sorry.
00:59
(Laughter)
01:01
You're probably even giving a microscopic high five to the two species of mites that live on our faces, on all of our faces. They've spent the night squirming across your face and having sex on the bridge of your nose.
01:16
(Laughter)
01:19
Many of them are now leaking their gut contents onto your pores.
01:24
(Laughter)
01:26
Now look at your finger. How's it feel? Gross? In desperate need of soap or bleach? That's how you feel now, but it's not going to be how you feel in the future.
01:39
For the last 100 years, we've had an adversarial relationship with the microscopic life nearest us. If I told you there was a bug in your house or bacteria in your sink, there was a human-devised solution for that, a product to eradicate, exterminate, disinfect. We strive to remove most of the microscopic life in our world now. But in doing so, we're ignoring the best source of new technology on this planet. The last 100 years have featured human solutions to microbial problems, but the next 100 years will feature microbial solutions to human problems.
02:20
I'm a scientist, and I work with researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado to uncover the microscopic life that is nearest us, and that's often in our most intimate and boring environments, be it under our couches, in our backyards, or in our belly buttons. I do this work because it turns out that we know very little about the microscopic life that's nearest us. As of a few years ago, no scientist could tell you what bugs or microorganisms live in your home -- your home, the place you know better than anywhere else.
02:56
And so I and teams of others are armed with Q-tips and tweezers and advanced DNA techniques to uncover the microscopic life nearest us. In doing so, we found over 600 species of bugs that live in USA homes, everything from spiders and cockroaches to tiny mites that cling to feathers. And we found over 100,000 species of bacteria and fungi that live in our dust bunnies, thousands more that live on our clothes or in our showers. We've gone further still, and we looked at the microorganisms that live inside the bodies of each of those bugs in our home. In each bug, for example, a wasp, we see a microscopic jungle unfold in a petri plate, a world of hundreds of vibrant species. Behold the biological cosmos! So many of the species you're looking at right now don't yet have names. Most of the life around us remains unknown.
04:01
I remember the first time I discovered and got to name a new species. It was a fungus that lives in the nest of a paper wasp. It's white and fluffy, and I named it "mucor nidicola," meaning in Latin that it lives in the nest of another. This is a picture of it growing on a dinosaur, because everyone thinks dinosaurs are cool. At the time, I was in graduate school, and I was so excited that I had found this new life form. I called up my dad, and I go, "Dad! I just discovered a new microorganism species." And he laughed and he goes, "That's great. I hope you also discovered a cure for it."
04:41
(Laughter)
04:42
"Cure it."
04:45
Now, my dad is my biggest fan, so in that crushing moment where he wanted to kill my new little life form, I realized that actually I had failed him, both as a daughter and a scientist. In my years toiling away in labs and in people's backyards, investigating and cataloging the microscopic life around us, I'd never made clear my true mission to him. My goal is not to find technology to kill the new microscopic life around us. My goal is to find new technology from this life, that will help save us.
05:19
The diversity of life in our homes is more than a list of 100,000 new species. It is 100,000 new sources of solutions to human problems. I know it's hard to believe that anything that's so small or only has one cell can do anything powerful, but they can. These creatures are microscopic alchemists, with the ability to transform their environment with an arsenal of chemical tools. This means that they can live anywhere on this planet, and they can eat whatever food is around them. This means they can eat everything from toxic waste to plastic, and they can produce waste products like oil and battery power and even tiny nuggets of real gold. They can transform the inedible into nutritive. They can make sugar into alcohol. They give chocolate its flavor, and soil the power to grow.
06:18
I'm here to tell you that the next 100 years will feature these microscopic creatures solving more of our problems. And we have a lot of problems to choose from. We've got the mundane: bad-smelling clothes or bland food. And we've got the monumental: disease, pollution, war. And so this is my mission: to not just catalog the microscopic life around us, but to find out what it's uniquely well-suited to help us with.
06:48
Here's an example. We started with a pest, a wasp that lives on many of our homes. Inside that wasp, we plucked out a little-known microorganism species with a unique ability: it could make beer. This is a trait that only a few species on this planet have. In fact, all commercially produced beer you've ever had likely came from one of only three microorganism species. Yet our species, it could make a beer that tasted like honey, and it could also make a delightfully tart beer. In fact, this microorganism species that lives in the belly of a wasp, it could make a valuable sour beer better than any other species on this planet. There are now four species that produce commercial beer. Where you used to see a pest, now think of tasting your future favorite beer.
07:45
As a second example, I worked with researchers to dig in the dirt in people's backyards. There, we uncovered a microorganism that could make novel antibiotics, antibiotics that can kill the world's worst superbugs. This was an awesome thing to find, but here's the secret: for the last 60 years, most of the antibiotics on the market have come from similar soil bacteria. Every day, you and I and everyone in this room and on this planet, are saved by similar soil bacteria that produce most of our antibiotics. Where you used to see dirt, now think of medication.
08:28
Perhaps my favorite example comes from colleagues who are studying a pond scum microorganism, which is tragically named after the cow dung it was first found in. It's pretty unremarkable and would be unworthy of discussion, except that the researchers found that if you feed it to mice, it vaccinates against PTSD. It vaccinates against fear. Where you used to see pond scum, now think of hope.
08:58
There are so many more microbial examples that I don't have time to talk about today. I gave you examples of solutions that came from just three species, but imagine what those other 100,000 species in your dust bunnies might be able to do. In the future, they might be able to make you sexier or smarter or perhaps live longer.
09:24
So I want you to look at your finger again. Think about all those microscopic creatures that are unknown. Think about in the future what they might be able to do or make or whose life they might be able to save. How does your finger feel right now? A little bit powerful? That's because you're feeling the future.
09:47
Thank you.
09:48
(Applause)
yihui ma, Translator
Lipeng Chen, Reviewer
00:01
请大家摸摸自己的脸。 试一试， 你们有什么感觉？ 是不是很柔软很有弹性？ 你摸到的是你自已吗？ 那可不全是你自己。 手指摸到的地方其实是 生活在我们的脸和手指上 成千上万个微生物。 你还摸到了一些真菌， 正从空气管道里进来落在我们身上， 进入我们的呼吸道，我们身体里。 这些霉菌会引起我们过敏症状， 还散发出难闻的气味。 你摸到的是生活在
我们皮肤上的一千多亿个 细菌细胞。 它们以我们皮肤上的油和汗为食 并以此繁衍它们的子孙， 还形成了我们的体味。 你可能摸到的是你上次冲厕所时 溅到你身上的大便细菌； 或者上次你洗澡时冲溅到你身上 那些隐居在我们排水管里的细菌。 抱歉（让你们感觉不适）了。
00:59
（笑声）
01:01
你摸脸时，其实是在帮助手上的螨虫和 霸占了我们每个人容颜的 螨虫庆祝大会师。 它们整夜的从你脸颊的一侧 欢歌曼舞到另一侧； 还在你的鼻梁上繁衍。
01:16
（笑声）
01:19
你的毛孔正在被它们的排泄物填满。
01:24
（笑声）
01:26
再看一看你的手指， 你是什么感觉？ 恶心吗？ 是不是急需用香皂或消毒液洗一洗？ 你们现在一定是这个感觉。 但是将来你们一定会有不同的感觉。
01:39
在过去的一百年里， 我们一直以一种不共戴天的态度 对待这些微生物。 如果我说你们的房子里有虫子 或是你的洗手池里有细菌， 人们早就有了针对它们的解决方案， 驱虫或灭虫产品， 还有消毒产品。 我们一直在拼命去除生活在 我们世界里的这些微生物。 可是我们却不知道它们才是 地球上帮助发展新兴科技的 最好的资源。 过去的一百年里见证了 人类如何解决微生物带来的问题， 但在未来的一百年里，微生物 会成为帮助我们解决难题的英雄。
02:20
我是名科学家，正和其他来自 北卡罗兰那州立大学和 克罗拉多大学的科研人员 寻找与我们共生共处的微生物。 它们总是潜伏于我们 最隐私和无人问津的角落， 比如沙发下面，房子的后院， 或者在我们的肚脐眼里。 我做这个工作是因为我们不很了解 那些与我们形影不离的微生物。 多年前没有科学家能够知道 你的家有什么虫子和微生物—— 你的家，相对于其他地方， 你最清楚你的家。
02:56
于是，我与我的科研团队一起 配足了各式的棉签和镊子 和各种先进的基因技术设备， 开始了发掘微生物的征程。 这一过程中我们发现了 600多种不同种类 生活在美国家庭里的虫子， 我们收集的虫子从各种蜘蛛，蟑螂 到微小的粘在羽毛上的螨虫。 我们还找到了十万多种的细菌和真菌， 它们藏身于四处飞舞的灰尘颗粒中， 数千的微生物群居在我们的 衣服上或浴室里。 我们需要进一步探究这些微生物， 而且我们观察研究了一些 寄居于普通虫子体内的微生物。 在每只虫子的体内，比如一只黄蜂， 我们从显微镜下看到装微生物的 培养皿上出现了一个微生物群落， 数以百计的活生生的微生物种群。 那真是令人叹为观止的生物宇宙！ 你们看到的这张图片上的微生物， 都还没有名字。 因为我们根本不了解这些与我们 朝夕相处的微生物。
04:01
我无法忘记我第一次发现并给一个 新物种起名字的时刻。 那是一种生活在胡峰窝里的真菌。 白色而且毛绒绒的， 所以我给它起名叫“毛霉虫”， 它的拉丁语意思是寄居在 其它虫子的窝里。 这是它和它寄居的恐龙的合影， 因为每个人都认为恐龙非常酷。 那时我还在研究生院学习， 我发现了这个新的生命体，兴奋至极。 我马上给我父亲打电话， “爸爸！我刚刚发现了一个 新的微生物种。” 他高兴的大笑，说， "那太好了。我希望你也能研究出 对付它的办法。“
04:41
（笑声）
04:42
”对付它。“
04:45
现在，我的父亲是我最忠实的粉丝， 在那令人崩溃的时刻，就是我父亲 想要杀死我新发现的小生命时， 我才意识到我让他失望了， 因为我不是好女儿也不是好科学家。 当我在实验室和别人的后院里辛苦 研究和收集微生物的那些年， 当我忙于调查记录各种微生物种时， 我从没有给他解释清楚 我真正的科研使命是什么。 我的目标不是发现新技术 去消灭那些生活在 我们周围的新微生物。 我的目标是研究新生命物种，从中找到 新技术，去帮助保护我们人类。
05:19
每个家庭中，除了人和宠物以外， 还生活着十万多种新的物种。 我们就拥有十万个新方法来 解决人类的难题。 我知道你很难相信那么小的生命体， 甚至只有一个细胞， 怎么可能帮助解决人类的难题呢？ 事实是，它们可以。 这些微生命体是能够创造奇迹的 微生物炼金术士， 能够运用自备的各种化学工具， 改变它们的生活环境。 这就是说它们可以生活在 地球上的任何地方， 而且它们可以以周围的任何食物为食。 这也意味着它们可以吃任何 有毒的废物或者塑料， 而且可以生产有用的产品， 像油和电力， 甚至微小的真金块。 它们可以把不能吃的东西改造成 有养分的东西。 它们可以把糖转化成酒。 它们赋予巧克力诱人的味道， 并且改良土壤使万物生长。
06:18
我希望你们知道， 在未来的100年会见证这些微生物 为我们解决更多的难题。 目前我们有太多的困难需要解决。 我们有一系列无关紧要的困难： 臭气熏天的衣服和平淡无味的食物。 我们还有一堆紧迫又棘手的问题： 疾病，污染，战争。 所以，我的使命是 不仅要把与我们共处的 微生物分类编制成册； 而且要从它们身上找到那些独特的， 适宜的特征来帮助我们。
06:48
我给大家举个例子。 我们从一种害虫开始研究， 很多人家的房子周围都有黄蜂出没。 在黄蜂身体里，我们拔出来一些 不知是什么的微生物种， 它有一种特殊的本事： 可以制作啤酒。 在地球上只有不多的物种 具备这个特性。 实际上你喝过的所有商业话生产的啤酒 很可能是从三种微生物种的 其中之一制作出来的。 我们所发现的黄蜂体内的微生物种， 却能制作出带有蜂蜜味的啤酒， 而且它也可能制作出 令人愉悦的酸爽啤酒。 事实上这种寄居在黄蜂肚子里的微生物 酿造出的贵重的酸啤酒, 比地球上任何其它的微生物种 制造的酸啤酒都更好。 现在我们有四种微生物种可以 用于商业化的啤酒酿造了。 以前你看到害虫， 现在你会想到未来你最爱喝的啤酒。
07:45
还有第二个例子， 我和几个研究人员在 一些人家的后院挖泥时， 发现了一种微生物可以 制成一种新奇的抗生素。 这种新型抗生素可以消灭 世界上最厉害的超级病菌。 这可是一件非常了不起的发现， 但是，有一个秘密： 在过去的六十年里， 市场上的绝大多数抗生素 都是来自类似的土壤细菌。 每一天，你们和我，还有在这个 房间里的每一个人， 在这个地球上的每一个人， 都被这种能制成绝大多数抗生素的 类似土壤细菌保护着。 以前你看到的只是泥土， 现在你会想到救命的良药。
08:28
我最喜欢的例子是我同事正在研究的 池塘表面浮沫中的微生物。 这个微生物不幸被命名为“牛粪”， 因为它最早是在牛粪里找到。 它非常普通，没有什么好谈的， 但有一点，研究人员发现， 如果你把它喂给老鼠吃， 老鼠就会对创伤后的 应激障碍症有免疫力。 也就是说老鼠会对恐惧有免疫力。 你们以前看到的池塘浮沫， 现在就会让你联想到希望。
08:58
我还有更多微生物的例子, 可是今天没有时间一一介绍。 我提到的那几个解决人类难题的例子 只是来自三个微生物种。 但是设想一下，那些生活在 灰尘颗粒上的数十万个微生物种 可能完成的事情。 将来，它们有可能会使你更性感， 或者更聪明 或者更长寿。
09:24
现在我要你们再看一看你们的手指， 想一想所有这些还不为我们所知的 微生物。 设想一下在未来，它们可能会 怎样帮助我们？ 或制造出什么？ 或者它们可能会挽救谁的生命? 你们的手指现在有什么感觉？ 是不是感到了一点点的力量？ 那是因为你们正在感受未来。
09:47
谢谢。 （掌声）
https://www.ted.com/talks/anne_madden_meet_the_microscopic_life_in_your_home_and_on_your_face/transcript
