Giant Microbes!!!

The other day my roommate sent me a link that both of us deemed fairly entertaining:

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/

Through the use of this site anyone can browse through the full catalogue of furry "giant microbes" offered and choose from a variety of options, ranging from "Bed bugs" to "Chickenpox" to "Herpes" (naming just a few). The attraction that probably draws most people here is the fact that you can type in just about any disease and will be able to find it in a brighter, more cuddly, and more fluffy representation of the microbe itself. Then, if you so choose, you can opt to give one or more friends the ailment of your choice, and from that point they can either choose to live with their new friend or give it to someone else of their choice. I personally found this site to be quite entertaining--not only is it humorous (the furry microbes even come in their own petri dish), but the products are suitable for all ages!

Even if this site doesn't exactly do the best job in educating the masses about the dangers of viral and bacterial ailments, it still offers some benefit to public health. Instead of using fear to educate, the opposite approach is taken here--the "microbes" sold are friendly, soft and inviting, asking for acceptance and love in a way very similar to that of a teddy bear. Through this strategy, children can be exposed to the concept of harmful pathogens at a very young age, and therefore at least get a good start on obtaining valuble knowledge needed to live a healthy, happy life years down the road. Also, the fact that these giant microbes actually look like the pathogens they portray helps everyone--not just children--learn more about them. Hence, the fuzzy, cuddly disease idea seems to be a good one (at least when it comes to this site's business). It gets the word out in a very light-hearted way--especially since so many people in today's day and age turn to the internet for their primary source of information--and I, for one, approve!