Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of LifeWithin days of being born, we are infected with billions of E. coli. They will inhabit each and every one of us until we die. E. coli is notorious for making people gravely ill, but engineered strains of the bacteria save millions of lives each year. Despite its microscopic size, E. coli contains more than four thousand genes that operate a staggeringly sophisticated network of millions of molecules. Scientists are rebuilding E. coli from the ground