Today, we relate the human microbiome to what it can tell us about our own current health. In this fascinating talk, microbiologist Alisa Kazarina describes how cutting edge research at the crossroads of archaeology and microbiology can trace humanity's physical development while providing insight on how to treat contemporary diseases.

Jonathan Eisen studies the ecology and evolution of microbial communities -- and their co-evolution with their hosts.

Designer Sandra Rey has found a way to channel one of nature's superpowers: bioluminescence. By isolating the DNA that causes some squids to glow, and introducing it into bacteria, she's created a light source that can glow for three days -- without generating the usual pollution caused by lightbulbs. Her idea is still in development, but Rey ma...

Learn how these microorganisms influence everything from the air we breathe and how healthy we are, to forming life itself.

TED Senior Fellow Frederick Balagadde invented the micro-chemostat, a first-of-its-kind, dime-sized piece of transparent plastic that can orchestrate the behavior of living cells.

Jessica Green wants people to understand the important role microbes play in every facet of our lives: climate change, building ecosystems, human health, even roller derby -- using nontraditional tools like art, animation and film to help people visualize the invisible world.

Should we keep the outdoors out of hospitals? Ecologist and TED Fellow Jessica Green has found that mechanical ventilation does get rid of many types of microbes, but the wrong kinds: the ones left in the hospital are much more likely to be pathogens.

The workings of the human body? An absolute marvel. And yet, kind of bizarre. The facts in these talks point to both conclusions.

Bonnie Bassler studies how bacteria can communicate with one another, through chemical signals, to act as a unit. Her work could pave the way for new, more potent medicine.

Drug-resistant bacteria have us on the brink of a serious global health crisis. What if sharks -- creatures we see as a threat to life -- could help fix it? Microbiologist Ethan Mann explains how the unusual qualities of shark skin could lead to a new generation of medical devices that reduce bacterial infection.

Learn all the hubbub going on with the big Red Planet in these insightful and utterly fascinating talks.

Melissa Garren is a molecular and marine biologist with a passion for unlocking the mysteries of our ocean's ecosystems and finding new avenues for conservation.

How deep into the Earth can we go and still find life? Marine microbiologist Karen Lloyd introduces us to deep-subsurface microbes: tiny organisms that live buried meters deep in ocean mud and have been on Earth since way before animals. Learn more about these mysterious microbes, which refuse to grow in the lab and seem to have a fundamentally ...

Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Sarah Rugheimer searches for aliens -- but not the cartoony green kind. She's looking for extraterrestrial microbes by studying how these single-celled organisms emit gases, which could reveal evidence of them throughout the cosmos. Wondering if we're really alone in the universe, Rugheimer identifies two big hurdle...

The ground beneath your feet is home to a massive, mysterious world of microbes -- some of which have been in the earth's crust for hundreds of thousands of years. What's it like down there? Take a trip to the volcanoes and hot springs of Costa Rica as microbiologist Karen Lloyd shines a light on these subterranean organisms and shows how they c...

From the micro scale to the building scale, Neri Oxman imagines and creates structures and objects that are inspired, informed and engineered by, for and with nature.

Explore the world of trailblazing health tech that's turning texts into thoughts, 3D printing bionic limbs — and even growing human brains inside a lab. From precision medicine to the intriguing marriage between your mind and wearables, these talks may change the way you think about your health.

Biochemist Kary Mullis talks about the basis of modern science: the experiment. Sharing tales from the 17th century and from his own backyard-rocketry days, Mullis celebrates the curiosity, inspiration and rigor of good science in all its forms.

Germs -- they get around. Learn what their travels and overall existence can teach us about not just ourselves, but the past, present and future of humanity.

Lisa Dyson thinks a new class of crops might help us reinvent agriculture -- and feed the world.

Drugs alone can't stop disease in sub-Saharan Africa: We need diagnostic tools to match. TED Senior Fellow Frederick Balagadde shows how we can multiply the power and availability of an unwieldy, expensive diagnostic lab -- by miniaturizing it to the size of a chip.

The UN predicts that antimicrobial resistance will be our biggest killer by 2050. "That should really scare the hell out of all of us," says bioprocess engineer Leon Marchal. He's working on an urgently needed solution: transforming the massive, global animal feed industry. Learn why the overuse of antibiotics in animal products, from livestock ...

Is there life on Venus? Quantum astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva makes the case for a new way to seek and possibly discover habitable planets -- and shares her research into a poisonous, smelly molecule that might signal life beyond Earth.

In this fascinating, hilarious and ever-so-slightly creepy talk, science writer Ed Yong tells the story of his favorite parasites -- animals and organisms that live on the bodies (and brains!) of other organisms, causing them to do their bidding. Do humans have them too? Maybe ...

On top of our heads, there is a type of yeast that lives and dines on all of our scalps. Feasting constantly, it's in paradise. And in about half of the human population, its activity causes dandruff. So, why do some people have more dandruff than others? And how can it be treated? Thomas L. Dawson explores this head-scratching problem. [Directe...

Your lifelong health may have been decided the day you were born, says microbiome researcher Henna-Maria Uusitupa. In this fascinating talk, she shows how the gut microbes you acquire during birth and as an infant impact your health into adulthood -- and discusses new microbiome research that could help tackle problems like obesity and diabetes.

Lisa Nip's work centers on how we can use synthetic biology to allow humanity to explore space.

Humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year -- yet, despite our best efforts, less than 10 percent of it ends up being recycled. Is there a better way to deal with all this waste? Morgan Vague describes her research with microbiologist Jay Mellies on bacteria that have evolved the unexpected ability to eat plastic -- and how they co...

There are about a hundred trillion microbes living inside your gut -- protecting you from infection, aiding digestion and regulating your immune system. As our bodies have adapted to life in modern society, we've started to lose some of our normal microbes; at the same time, diseases linked to a loss of diversity in microbiome are skyrocketing i...

TED Fellow Armando Azua-Bustos studies how microbial life has adapted to survive in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth.