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What is the most dangerous threat to human health and the existence of the planet? The decline of the microbiome, a complex until-now invisible world of microscopic life.

The microbiome is the canary in the coal mine, the warning system for our ecological destruction. It is comprised of invisible forces from bacteria to viruses to single celled organisms that control everything from our immune systems to CO2 cycles in the depths of the seas; coral reefs to vital insect populations. Microbiomes shift and mutate rapidly, over hours, even days. Before the Mama Bear on the melting iceberg image was seen, the microbiome in the Southern seas had shifted and changed dramatically, even died out entirely, behind the scenes. We need this vital system to be recognized and saved. We must attend to this world or risk our extinction. Garrett goes behind the scenes to labs, to underwater microbiomes, to delicate ecosystems around the globe to reveal microbiomes in all their intricacy and vitality and reveal the research around the world that may save them. The bestselling author of THE COMING PLAGUE and BETRAYAL OF TRUST , Garrett has won the Pulitzer, Peabody and Polk awards for her reporting on the state of the planet and the spread of disease the world over. She is Senior Fellow for Global Health and the Council for Foreign Relations and travels the world speaking on the topic and advising world leaders. http://lauriegarrett.com A small sampling of her international presence: frequent talks at Tokyo University, National Graduate Inst of Policy Studies in Tokyo, and other venues, as well as New Zealand radio, Australian Broadcasting Corp, UN Dispatch, Pacifica radio, the World Bank meetings in Singapore, Switzerland, and elsewhere, the BBC, the Eurasia Group, The Guardian, the Royal Society in UK, as well as many major US media shows, such as Colbert, MSBC, the NY Times, Wall St Journal, and many more.