We live in an age of paranoia, bombarded daily by the media about the dangers of infectious microbes and viruses that threaten our very existence. The pharmaceutical and biotech industries insist that we are in a continuous state of war with our microbes and we have to protect ourselves with their elaborate weapons of microbial destruction. But do we really need them? Each of our bodies is teeming with trillions of microbes and viruses. Many of them are normal lifetime residents that do us no harm. In fact, some of them are essential to our health. Microbes and viruses were on the planet long before humans appeared, and we must learn to live in harmony with them. Recent research, with the aid of sophisticated gene, sequencing technology and improved methods of laboratory cultivation, has revealed that each of our bodies is teeming with trillions of microbes and viruses. Many of them are normal lifetime residents that do us no harm, and in fact some of them are essential to our normal health. They provide us with essential nutrients and other benefits. In addition the human genome itself contains sequences of numerous ancestral viral genes, although we don't understand the significance of this. When we do encounter potentially dangerous microbes or viruses, through our air, water and food, they are usually taken care of by our multifunctional defense system, which surveys incoming organisms chemically to determine if they are compatible or not. Those that are unacceptable are subjected to a barrage of antimicrobial and antiviral cells and molecules, including immune responses. However if our state of health is compromised, and our microbial flora become unbalanced as a result of stress, antibiotics, or environmental influences, or the occasional over - reaction on the part of our defense system leading to inflammation, we can think about turning to "alternative" medicine, such as herbal preparations, for help. Unfortunately very few of these alternative therapi