Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life

June 3, 2008
Carl Zimmer | Contributing Editor, Discover Magazine

While most of us only know E. coli as a lethal kind of food poisoning, we actually carry hundreds of billions of these bacteria in our bodies for our entire lives. Over the past fifty years E. coli has been probed and dissected by thousands of biologists who are seeking answers to the most fundamental questions of biology. Why? Despite its microscopic size, the E. coli bacteria contains over four thousand genes that operate a sophisticated network of millions of molecules. Currently we only know what 600 of those 4000 genes are for, and Francis Crick wanted to create an entire research institution dedicated to mapping the complete structure of the organism.
The story of E.coli is actually the story of modern biology, as scientists in the 1940’s seized on it as the fast breeding microbe they needed for experiments. Today, “engineered E.coli” is a part of almost every part of the biotechnology world, playing a role in everything from the manufacture of human insulin to jet fuel.

Speaker Details

Carl Zimmer writes about science for the New York Times, and his work also appears in National Geographic, Scientific American, Wired and Discover. He received the 2007 National Academies Communication Award, the highest honor for science writing, and is also a frequent commentator on NPR’s Fresh Air and This American Life. He is the author of six earlier books, including Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea and Parasite Rex, and also writes an award winning science blog, The Loom.