Bodysnatchers!

I'm currently posting from beautiful Toronto, at the annual American Society for Microbiology meeting. Last night the talks all focused on biodiversity (of microbes). The first two speakers mentioned in passing the fact that we are outnumbered in our own bodies by bacteria, about 10:1. Most of the cells in your body are bacterial cells. (Reason being is that bacterial cells are much smaller than mammalian cells).

The keynote speaker was Edward O. Wilson, biodiversity researcher extraordinaire from Harvard. After a long welcoming applause, he said, "On behalf of my mammalian self and my prokaryotic masters, I thank you."

Fifteen thousand microbiologists roared with laugher.