Robert Kolter

Roberto Kolter, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard's Medical School, believes that microbes, bacteria in particular, have gotten a bad rap. "Oh sure, occasionally a nasty one like Salmonella or E. coli gets through and causes trouble," he says, "but for the most part bacteria are quite beneficial, helping us to digest our food, for example, and aiding in the maintenance of the ecology." Microbes are also ubiquitous - living practically everywhere - but for the most part, scientists still know little about them, Roberto adds. To illustrate this point, Roberto likes to…