Chapter 27 : Abigail Salyers: An Almost Unbeatable Force

Abstract:

Abigail Salyers is arguably the mother of the microbiome: the revolutionary science that acknowledges the impact of our microbial ecosystems on human health. What inspired her to venture with indefatigable drive into the dark, inhospitable, anaerobic world of the human gut? To spend years of her life developing genetic tools for a nonmodel bacterium we now know makes up one-quarter of the cells in the human gut? To fight to make microbiology relevant and accessible in the medical curriculum? To “promote the cause of microbiology as THE biological discipline of the coming decades”? This chapter explores the life and career of Abigail and features reflections from some of the many individuals whom she mentored and inspired.