I contain multitudes
我包罗万象
Wendy Moore reviews Ed Yong’s book about microbes
温迪·摩尔给埃德·杨关于微生物的书写书评
Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us. Invisible to the naked eye, they are ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks and water and are present within every form of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly absorbing and hugely important book we mess with them at our peril.
微生物（其中大多数是细菌）早在动物生命发展之前就已经在这个星球上生存了，而且它们终将比我们活得更长久。虽然我们肉眼看不见，它们却无处不在。它们生存于土壤、空气、岩石和水中，存在于从海藻、珊瑚到狗和人类的各种生命形式中。而且，正如杨在他那本极度有趣、极其重要的书中所解释的那样，我们与它们这么过不去是对自己健康有危害的。
Every species has its own colony of microbes, called a 'microbiome’, and these microbes vary not only between species but also between individuals and within different parts of each individual. What is amazing is that while the number of human cells in the average person is about 30 trillion, the number of microbial ones is higher – about 39 trillion. At best, Yong informs us, we are only 50 per cent human. Indeed, some scientists even suggest we should think of each species and its microbes as a single unit, dubbed a 'holobiont’.
每个物种都有自己的“微生物群”，这些微生物群不仅在物种之间，而且在生物个体之间以及每个个体的不同器官部位之内都有所不同。令人惊讶的是，虽然平均每人体内的人体细胞数量约为30万亿，但微生物细胞的数量却更高——约为39万亿。杨告诉我们，充其量我们只能算是50%的人类。事实上，一些科学家甚至建议我们应该把每个物种及其微生物看作一个单一的单元，称为“共生功能体”。
In each human there are microbes that live only in the stomach, the mouth or the armpit and by and large they do so peacefully. So 'bad’ microbes are just microbes out of context. Microbes that sit contentedly in the human gut (where there are more microbes than there are stars in the galaxy) can become deadly if they find their way into the bloodstream. These communities are constantly changing too. The right hand shares just one sixth of its microbes with the left hand. And, of course, we are surrounded by microbes. Every time we eat, we swallow a million microbes in each gram of food; we are continually swapping microbes with other humans, pets and the world at large.
在每个人身上都有微生物，它们只生活在胃、口腔或腋窝中，大体上它们是和平相处地生活的。所以“坏”微生物只是脱离了环境的微生物。满足地存在于人类肠道中的微生物（那里的微生物比银河系中的恒星还要多）如果进入血液，可能会致命。而这些社区也在不断变化。右手与左手只有共同的六分之一的微生物。当然，我们周围都是微生物。我们每吃一克食物，就会吞下一百万个微生物；我们不断地与其他人类、宠物和整个世界交换微生物。
It’s a fascinating topic and Yong, a young British science journalist, is an extraordinarily adept guide. Writing with lightness and panache, he has a knack of explaining complex science in terms that are both easy to understand and totally enthralling. Yong is on a mission. Leading us gently by the hand, he takes us into the world of microbes – a bizarre, alien planet – in a bid to persuade us to love them as much as he does. By the end, we do.
这是一个令人着迷、引人入胜的话题，年轻的英国科学记者杨是一位非常内行娴熟的微生物世界导游。他的写作文笔深入浅出、轻快而华丽，他有一种用既容易理解又完全吸引人的术语解释着复杂科学的诀窍。杨在执着于一项使命。他温柔地牵着我们的手，带我们进入微生物的世界——一个奇异的外星行星——试图说服我们像他一样爱他们。到最后，我们都如他所愿，爱上了这个奇妙的微生物仙境。
For most of human history we had no idea that microbes existed. The first man to see these extraordinarily potent creatures was a Dutch lens-maker called Antony van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s. Using microscopes of his own design that could magnify up to 270 times, he examined a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it teeming with tiny creatures he called 'animalcules’. It wasn’t until nearly two hundred years later that the research of French biologist Louis Pasteur indicated that some microbes caused disease. It was Pasteur’s 'germ theory’ that gave bacteria the poor image that endures today.
在人类历史的大部分时间里，我们都不知道微生物的存在。第一个看到这些异常强大的生物的人是1670年代一位名叫安东尼·范·列文虎克的荷兰镜头制造商。他用自己设计的显微镜（可以放大270倍）检查了附近一个湖泊的一滴水，发现里面充满了他称之为“微生物”的微小生物。直到近两百年后，法国生物学家路易斯·巴斯德的研究才表明某些微生物导致了疾病。正是巴斯德的“细菌理论”给了细菌一直持续存到今日的糟糕形象。
Yong’s book is in many ways a plea for microbial tolerance, pointing out that while fewer than one hundred species of bacteria bring disease, many thousands more play a vital role in maintaining our health. The book also acknowledges that our attitude towards bacteria is not a simple one. We tend to see the dangers posed by bacteria, yet at the same time we are sold yoghurts and drinks that supposedly nurture 'friendly’ bacteria. In reality, says Yong, bacteria should not be viewed as either friends or foes, villains or heroes. Instead we should realise we have a symbiotic relationship, that can be mutually beneficial or mutually destructive.
杨的书在许多方面呼吁大家对微生物要容忍，指出一方面只有不到一百种细菌会带来疾病，但还有数千种细菌在维持我们的健康方面起着至关重要的作用。这本书也承认我们对细菌的态度并不单一都是憎恨与恐惧。我们往往倾向于看到细菌带来的危险，但与此同时，我们也生产销售被认为是培养“友好”细菌的的酸奶和饮料。杨说，在现实中，细菌不应该被视为朋友或敌人、恶棍或英雄。相反，我们应该意识到我们之间存在着一种共生关系，这种关系可能是互利的，也可能是相互破坏的。
What then do these millions of organisms do? The answer is pretty much everything. New research is now unravelling the ways in which bacteria aid digestion, regulate our immune systems, eliminate toxins, produce vitamins, affect our behaviour and even combat obesity. 'They actually help us become who we are,’ says Yong. But we are facing a growing problem. Our obsession with hygiene, our overuse of antibiotics and our unhealthy, low-fibre diets are disrupting the bacterial balance and may be responsible for soaring rates of allergies and immune problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
那么，这些数百万的生物体会做什么呢？答案是几乎一切。新的研究正在揭示细菌帮助消化、调节我们的免疫系统、排除毒素、产生维生素、影响我们的行为、甚至对抗肥胖的方式等方面，它们实际上帮助我们成就为真正的自己。但我们正面临一个日益严重的问题。我们对洁癖卫生的痴迷，我们对抗生素的过度使用，以及我们不健康的低纤维饮食正在破坏细菌平衡，并可能导致过敏和免疫问题，如炎症性肠病（IBD）的发病率飙升。
The most recent research actually turns accepted norms upside down. For example, there are studies indicating that the excessive use of household detergents and antibacterial products actually destroys the microbes that normally keep the more dangerous germs at bay. Other studies show that keeping a dog as a pet gives children early exposure to a diverse range of bacteria, which may help protect them against allergies later.
这份最新研究实际上把人们公认的常理彻底颠倒过来了。例如，有研究表明，过度使用家用洗涤剂和抗菌产品实际上会破坏那些通常将更危险的细菌拒之门外的微生物。其他研究表明，养宠物狗可以让孩子们尽早接触到各种各样的细菌，这可能有助于保护他们以后不致动则过敏、免疫力低下（记得钟南山有个著名的讲解希望有孩子家庭可以从小养宠物）。
The readers of Yong’s book must be prepared for a decidedly unglamorous world. Among the less appealing case studies is one about a fungus that is wiping out entire populations of frogs and that can be halted by a rare microbial bacterium. Another is about squid that carry luminescent bacteria that protect them against predators. However, if you can overcome your distaste for some of the investigations, the reasons for Yong’s enthusiasm become clear. The microbial world is a place of wonder. Already, in an attempt to stop mosquitoes spreading dengue fever – a disease that infects 400 million people a year – mosquitoes are being loaded with a bacterium to block the disease. In the future, our ability to manipulate microbes means we could construct buildings with useful microbes built into their walls to fight off infections. Just imagine a neonatal hospital ward coated in a specially mixed cocktail of microbes so that babies get the best start in life.
杨的这本书的读者必须为一个毫无趣味的世界做好阅读准备。在不太吸引人的案例研究中，有一个是关于一种正在消灭所有青蛙种群的真菌，这种真菌可以被一种罕见的微生物细菌阻止。另一个是关于鱿鱼，鱿鱼携带发光细菌，保护它们免受捕食者的攻击。然而，如果你能克服对某些调查研究的厌恶，杨对细菌世界的热情的原因就显而易见了。微生物世界是一个神奇仙境。为了阻止蚊子传播登革热（一种每年感染4亿人的疾病）蚊子体内现正被装入一种细菌来阻止这种疾病。在未来，我们操纵微生物的能力意味着我们可以在建筑物的墙壁上植入有用的微生物来抵御感染。试想一下，一间新生儿医院的病房涂上了一层特殊混合的微生物混合物，这样婴儿一出生就有了人生最好的开始。
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