However, a relatively large cadre of individual researchers is extremely interested in this field a fact evidenced by the rapid pace with which infections in chronic disease are being uncovered. Yet the field remains challenging simply because we don t know how to study it. If everyone has them, Ewald s suggestion that scientists chase down individual anecdotal responses to antibiotics is unlikely to be fruitful. In February of this year, the code for the human genome was officially unveiled. Some felt disappointed that the number of human genes did not far exceed the number of worm genes.
Humans are more complex than worms.
If we don t have many more genes, then we must assume that the actual workings of these genes and the interactions among them are much more complicated than we had previously anticipated. Ewald s goal of documenting our complex relationship with the microbial world is a great one. But I wish he would rewrite his book. Its exciting and important arguments are obscured by its overly broad sweep, its lack of focus on proved associations and its inadequate documentation of his more interesting points.