Thriving all around, and even within us, is a minute universe of astonishing and diverse lifeforms so small, they cannot be seen by the human eye. Everything from our food, to the air we breathe, to the forest ecosystem, is based on the activity of microbes. These astonishing and diverse lifeforms that live inside and all around us are so small they cannot be seen by the human eye — until now. The Harvard Museum of Natural History presents a new, unique exhibition, Microbial Life: A Universe at the Edge of Sight. Taking museum visitors through a multi-sensory journey into this fascinating, invisible realm, the Microbial Life odyssey provides a unique opportunity to experience the wonders of microbial activity and the surprisingly stunning beauty of bacterial forms. From a full-scale model kitchen to captivating models from the Harvard Medical School, visitors can delve into the fascinating, invisible realm of microbes: Earth’s first inhabitants.

Through captivating displays of specimens and models from the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and Harvard Medical School, along with scheduled, live demonstrations by Harvard students and researchers, visitors can learn how microbes engage with the bodies of humans and animals of all sizes, from termites to whales.