Microbes and society focuses on the impact, good and bad, of microbes on humanity and civilization. The course explores the beneficial effects of microbes on the environment, agriculture, industry, biotechnology, and medicine. In addition, the course describes how microbes and microbial diseases have influenced the history and evolution of humans. The course also explore the negative impact of microbes as pathogens and emerging infectious agents on civilization. Host pathogen interactions including how microbes cause infectious diseases and how the host immune response clears infections and protects the host against re-infection with the same microbe are also covered in the course.

Microbes and society focuses on the impact, good and bad, of microbes on humanity and civilization. The course explores the beneficial effects of microbes on the environment, agriculture, industry, biotechnology, and medicine. In addition, the course describes how microbes and microbial diseases have influenced the history and evolution of humans. The course also explore the negative impact of microbes as pathogens and emerging infectious agents on civilization. Host pathogen interactions including how microbes cause infectious diseases and how the host immune response clears infections and protects the host against re-infection with the same microbe are also covered in the course.