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Hi, I'm Flora Lichten, and you're listening to Science Friday. Today in the show, a team of

scientists is trying to jumpstart a global conservation movement on par with saving the rainforests or protecting the oceans.

Actually, it might even be more ambitious because the target of their quest is invisible,

everywhere, and mostly something we try to hand sanitize away. These scientists are trying to

save the microbes. Leading the effort is microbial ecologist, Dr. Jack

Gilbert from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He's the co-lead of the newly formed

microbial conservation specialist group under the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of

Nature. Jack, welcome to Science Friday.

Thanks, Flora. Great to be here.

Okay. Why this quest?

Microbes have been around on this planet for four billion years.

They're the epicenter of all microbial, of all diversity on the planet.

They make the biggest impact.

They have the key role of driving all of the climate action on the planet.

All of the gases, all the nutrients go through them. They're also the biggest biomass, right?

They outweigh everything that you can see with your eyes.

...