The Invisible Extinction spotlights the extraordinary work and charismatic personalities of renowned scientists Martin Blaser, and his partner in the lab and in life, Gloria Dominguez-Bello, as they endeavor to save the vanishing microbes that are essential for our survival.

The film joins them on this urgent quest from the USA to Venezuela, China, Israel, and Switzerland, showing us how the overuse of antibiotics, elective C-sections, and processed foods are driving the destruction of our inner ecology, which is happening even faster than climate change.

As the Covid-19 pandemic hits, Blaser pivots to focus on how our microbes may help protect us from the virus and future pandemics, while Dominguez-Bello spearheads the creation of an international microbe vault to safeguard precious bugs that may help cure chronic illnesses.

The Lancet says: “The Invisible Extinction is an incredible body of work from filmmakers Sarah Schenck and Steven Lawrence. Following married experts Martin J Blaser, author of Missing Microbes, and Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, microbial ecologist, the documentary covers the global extinction of our internal microbiomes. Work to explore our microbiota has only just begun, but our microbes could be dying before we can fully understand their functions and value. Blaser estimates that we have lost as much as 50% of our internal biodiversity and warns of the consequences that could emerge as a result of this gastrointestinal eco-disaster.”