Most Americans have long believed that all bacteria is bad bacteria. The more sterile we can make our homes and our bodies the better.

It’s only within the past decade, as scientists learned about the human microbiome—the term for the universe of 100 trillion or so microorganisms that live in, and on, each of us—that an increasing number of people have realized this is a simplistic view. Those bacteria, for the most part, aren’t bad at all. In fact, they play a massive role in maintaining good health.

It turns out that plants have microbiomes too, and the bacteria there have often been treated the way human bacteria are treated. If Cambridge, Mass.-based startup Indigo has its way, those bacteria will get the respect they deserve—and they could possibly change the face of agriculture. The approach has “huge potential,” says Martin Grube, a professor of plant sciences who studies the microbiome at the University of Graz in Austria.
Read More »Bacteria and Microbiome Could Reshape Agriculture, Says Startup Indigo