I like to imagine a love story told in the language of microbiomes. First, you meet someone. You like their scent. You kiss and cuddle. You spend more and more time together, sharing meals, a bed, and physical space. You live together, constantly exchanging populations of microbes. Eventually—over the course of years, perhaps—you arrive at a jiving equilibrium, inhabited by what was once part of your lover while maintaining a bit of difference. You change each other; it’s kinetic. Then, maybe, someone leaves or dies. Your respective microbe populations are no longer in conversation. Gradually,
...more
