You can’t see them, but they’re here.
They are on you. In you. And you’ve got more than a hundred thousand billion of them.
They’re with you when you eat, when you breathe, when you kiss.
They are everywhere. On your hands. And in your belly.
And they meddle in everything.
They shape your world:
what you smell, and what you taste;
whether you get sick, or get better.
They can save us or destroy us.
Microbes: the smallest and most powerful organisms on our planet.
We know very little about them,
but can learn so much from them.
About our health, alternative energy sources, and much more.
When you look from really close,
a new world is revealed to you.
More beautiful and spectacular than you could ever have imagined.
Welcome to ARTIS-Micropia.
The only museum of microbes, in the centre of Amsterdam.
At Micropia you’ll experience the smallest and most successful of life forms. Every human being carries approximately 1.5 kilograms of microbes. Microbes are everywhere, and they shape your world. You can experience this straight away through specially designed 3D viewers that make it possible for you to see how living microbes move around, eat, and reproduce.
You can navigate through the habitat of extremophiles, which are microorganisms that are able to survive the most extreme circumstances. And with a body scan, you come face-to-face with your very own microorganisms.
After a visit to Micropia, you’ll probably never see yourself, or the world, in the same way again.
Micropia is part of ARTIS and is recommended for ages 8 and upwards.
