Breakthrough bioscience and its implications: 3 extraordinary boks take you to the cutting edge of biology, genetics, evolution, and human health Three remarkable books take you to the cutting edge of biology, genetics, evolution, and human health — explaining the newest science, and revealing its incredible implications! Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today reveals how microbes have shaped our health, genetics, history, culture, politics, religion and ethics… and how they’re shaping our future right now. Allies and Enemies: How the World Depends on Bacteria offers an even closer look at humans’ intimate partnership with bacteria… how they keep you alive, how they can kill you, and how we can all live together happily in peace. Finally, in It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life Is Making Us Sick, Greg Gibson explains today’s explosion in chronic disease through a revolutionary new hypothesis: our genome is out of equilibrium with itself, its environment, and modern culture. From world-renowned leaders in science and science journalism, including David Clark, Anne Maczulak, and Greg Gibson

An in-depth look at microbes and diseases.

In Germs, Genes and Civilization, Dr. David Clark tells the story of the microbe-driven epidemics that have repeatedly molded our human destinies. You'll discover how your genes have been shaped through millennia spent battling against infectious diseases. You'll learn how epidemics have transformed human history, over and over again, from ancient Egypt to Mexico, the Romans to Attila the Hun. You'll learn how the Black Death epidemic ended the Middle Ages, making possible the Renaissance, western democracy, and the scientific revolution. Clark demonstrates how epidemics have repeatedly shaped not just our health and genetics, but also our history, culture, and politics. You'll even learn how they may influence religion and ethics, including the ways they may help trigger cultural cycles of puritanism and promiscuity. Perhaps most fascinating of all, Clark reveals the latest scientific and philosophical insights into the interplay between microbes, humans, and society - and previews what just might come next.

"Clear, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, Germs, Genes & Civilization makes the case that infectious diseases have played a major role in shaping society. Clark argues that religion, morals, and even democracy have all been influenced by the smallest and most dangerous organisms on our planet. While you may not accept every argument, you will be stimulated, entertained, and enlightened."---Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D., President, Stony Brook University, and former Director of the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research --

Making Peace with Microbes Public sanitation and antibiotic drugs have brought about historic increases in the human life span; they have also unintentionally produced new health crises by disrupting the intimate, age-old balance between humans and the microorganisms that inhabit our bodies and our environment. As a result, antibiotic resistance now ranks among the gravest medical problems of modern times. Good Germs, Bad Germs addresses not only this issue but also what has become known as the "hygiene hypothesis"— an argument that links the over-sanitation of modern life to now-epidemic increases in immune and other disorders. In telling the story of what went terribly wrong in our war on germs, Jessica Snyder Sachs explores our emerging understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the human body and its resident microbes—which outnumber its human cells by a factor of nine to one! The book also offers a hopeful look into a future in which antibiotics will be designed and used more wisely, and beyond that, to a day when we may replace antibacterial drugs and cleansers with bacterial ones—each custom-designed for maximum health benefits.

"Why are you attracted to a certain type? Why do you vote the way you do? Why do you struggle to let certain things go? Philosophers and theologians have grappled with the mystery of human behavior for centuries--but now, science is revealing startling new insights into what makes us tick. This provocative narrative from Indiana University School of Medicine professor Bill Sullivan explores our behavior through. the lens of genetics, microbiology, psychology, neurology, and family history, revealing the hidden forces that drive our individual natures. A fascinating tour of the factors that shape our actions, moods, tastes, political beliefs, and more, [this book] unveils a surprising truth: that many of our most defining traits emerge from things we can't control, including our genes, our early environment, our evolutionary past, and the microbes that dwell inside us. In these pages, you'll learn the real reasons we struggle with infidelity, weight loss, drugs, and depression; discover the biological differences that may separate liberals and conservatives; discern the forces that shape human attraction; and comprehend your own impulse to extend a helping hand or throw a punch. These trail-blazing insights are sprinkled with pop culture references that elucidate the scientific imperatives behind them. Filled with revolutionary observations, this eye-opening book takes us on a riveting journey that reveals who we are--and how we can become our best selves."--Dust jacket.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (9780137019960) by David P. Clark. Available in print and digital formats. ¿ Is there a “good” side to epidemics? It all depends on how you look at it... ¿ The way epidemics have intervened in history shows that disease is not uniformly negative. An epidemic’s long-term outcome may be quite complex. Whether we regard any particular outcome as “good” or “bad” depends partly on whose side we are on and partly on the relative weight we give to short-term versus long-term effects.