Nothing is insignificant

We cannot see them, we may not even feel them, but their presence is integral to survival. Just as any forest is an intricate ecosystem made up of many, many species, the human being, too, is a mobile ecosystem made up of not just human organs, flesh, blood and muscle, but also trillions of microbes that populate the gut, the mouth and other parts of the body. Nature magazine reports that scientists have found that a single tree can be home to a trillion microbial cells, that a forest is a complex, dynamic ecosystem in which a rich array of living things interact and depend on one another for survival. Microbial diversity is not the preserve of forests and trees; it is there in every aspect of nature and in all of us, too. Humans are ecosystems with their own demographic of microorganisms that work together like an orchestra.

Microbiomes - communities of microbes living and working together - whether inside a tree, in a forest ecosystem, within the human gut or in the ice cores of glaciers at the poles, find unity in diversity. Microbiome synergy is what keeps life going; these are illustrative of the benefits accrued when vastly divergent organisms with different characteristics come together to thrive and to give life to their host species. Microbes are silent warriors, so to speak, that work diligently in groups, without destroying each other, for the greater good and for their own good. So, there is a universe within, and a universe without, all interconnected in magical ways.