Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome

(Hardback)

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Description

An urgent investigation into a brave new world in science - the microbiome - and how it could save our health. The microbiome is the missing link in modern medicine, a vast genetic universe of 'dark matter' - bacteria, yeasts, viruses and parasites - that lives inside us. It conducts the orchestra of our immune system, adapts with us as we age and influences how we think and feel, our sex lives and even how fast we run. In this mindblowing book, scientist and surgeon James Kinross explains how the organisms that live within us have helped us evolve, shaped our biology and defined the success of our species. But just as we have discovered this delicate and complex ecosystem within us, it is being irrevocably destroyed through antibiotic addition, industrial food production, the globalisation of our diets and lifestyles, and the destruction of our environment. This pioneering book is both a guide to hacking the microbiome for a healthier life and a call to protect the most vulnerable human ecosystem of all.

Reviews

A totally addictive and illuminating read. Compelling from beginning to end, presenting crystal clear insight into the hidden microbial world that lives within us all. * Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed, gastroenterologist and bestselling author of The Kitchen Prescription *
A fountain of knowledge and sense in an overwhelming world of science. * Rhiannon Lambert, Registered Nutritionist and Sunday Times Bestselling Author *

Author Bio

Dr James Kinross is a senior lecturer in colorectal surgery and consultant surgeon at Imperial College London and a visiting professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. He leads a research team defining how the microbiome causes cancer and other chronic diseases of the gut. Dark Matter is his first book.