These days everyone's banging on about friendly bacteria! The Escherichia coli bacterium was identified in 1885 by Austrian physician Theodor von Escheric. Its peritrichous flagella (the hairs which can sprout anywhere on its body) can twirl around, propelling it forward at the bacterial-equivalent speed of a torpedo!

These 4-inch plush dolls look like the real microbes that can give you grief but are about a million times actual size!