Fargo, N.D. – “Amazing World of Microbes: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Beautiful” is the title of the Science Café presentation held on Oct. 9 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Stokers Basement, Hotel Donaldson, downtown Fargo.

Birgit Pruess, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary and Microbiological Sciences, discusses the large, diverse and intriguing microbial world.

“We are all painfully aware that microbes can make us sick at times. Do we also know that there are 10 times as many bacterial cells in and on our bodies than there are human cells?” Pruess asks. “Who recognizes that half of the oxygen we breathe has been produced by all those microbes that inhabit our oceans? How did the alcohol get into that glass of wine?”

In her presentation, Pruess covers some of the good, bad and downright ugly characteristics of microbes and provide answers to attendees’ questions. To complement the discussion, she presents images produced in her research lab.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.