This might be what is living in your mouth right now!

This picture, taken using a high-powered scanning electron microscope is of the bacteria commonly found in the human mouth. The different species of bacteria have been coloured so they can be seen clearly. You will notice they are different shapes and sizes.

Bacteria are tiny, organisms composed of only a single cell. There are more bacteria on earth than any other living thing. Bacteria can be found in every single type of environment you can think of: in hot, dry deserts, in ice and snow, at the bottom of the ocean, on the sides of volcanoes, inside rock crevices, and of course inside animals and people!

Some bacteria are harmful, like those pictured above which cause tooth decay, but but most serve a useful purpose. They support many forms of life, both plant and animal, and they are used in industrial and medicinal processes.

“If you don’t like bacteria, you’re on the wrong planet.”
~ Stewart Brand