Think about microbial diseases. Think about influenza, AIDS, measles, Ebola, mumps, rabies, smallpox, tuberculosis, plague, cholera, and syphilis. All of these maladies, though different from each other, fit a similar pattern. They are caused by a single microbe: a virus or bacterium that infects our cells, reproduces at our expense, and triggers a predictable panoply of symptoms. This causal agent can be identified, isolated, and studied. With luck, it can be removed, ending the affliction. Rohwer’s work with corals hints at a different type of microbial disease, one without a single obvious
...more
