Ideas worth spreading

Meet the microscopic life in your home -- and on your face

1,602,758 views |

Anne Madden |

TED2017

• April 2017

Behold the microscopic jungle in and around you: tiny organisms living on your cheeks, under your sofa and in the soil in your backyard. We have an adversarial relationship with these microbes -- we sanitize, exterminate and disinfect them -- but according to microbiologist Anne Madden, they're sources of new technologies and medicines waiting to be discovered. These microscopic alchemists aren't gross, Madden says -- they're the future.

Behold the microscopic jungle in and around you: tiny organisms living on your cheeks, under your sofa and in the soil in your backyard. We have an adversarial relationship with these microbes -- we sanitize, exterminate and disinfect them -- but according to microbiologist Anne Madden, they're sources of new technologies and medicines waiting to be discovered. These microscopic alchemists aren't gross, Madden says -- they're the future.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Participate in various projects investigating the roles of microbes in our lives.

Sign up for Anne Madden's email list.

Engage in interdisciplinary art, education and science projects related to the microbes around us.

About the speaker

Anne Madden

Microbiologist, inventor and strategist

See speaker profile

Whether brewing better beer, discovering novel antibiotics or chronicling the lives of the microscopic creatures living in the dust under the couch, Anne Madden seeks to understand and utilize the microbial world around us.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Participate in various projects investigating the roles of microbes in our lives.

Sign up for Anne Madden's email list.

Engage in interdisciplinary art, education and science projects related to the microbes around us.