Saturday, September 25, 2010

Biography of a Germ


Awhile ago, I bought a bunch of clearance books online. One that I was really excited to read was Arno Karlen's Biography of a Germ. I am sad to say, that this book wasn't what I expected. Perhaps, I was thinking it would be mainly about the life of the bacteria that cause lyme disease and what it does to humans. It started out talking about the history of biography; something that is of very little interest to me. Next, was a biology lesson about shapes of bacteria before moving on to a bit about the germ and its many defenses that confuse our immune systems.

Even though I was disappointed in this book, I did learn a few things about this small germ. The bacteria is found world wide and lyme disease wasn't identified until in the United States until the mid-1970's. Ticks were not confirmed at the transmitter for another decade. The real kick in the teeth is that our current lifestyles is creating the ideal habitat for ticks and this bacteria. Even today, much is speculated about the bacteria and its life cycle but very little is confirmed.

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