Wolbachia: Can we save lives with a great pandemic?

•Wolbachia are one of the great pandemics of life from a biodiversity perspective.•The molecular basis of Wolbachia parasitism remains enigmatic.•Wolbachia parasites can be deployed to curb natural mosquito vectors of dengue virus.•Research on anti-Wolbachia drugs hold future promise to eradicate filarial disease.

Wolbachia pipientis is the most common bacterial infection in the animal world and wields a vast influence on invertebrate reproduction, sex determination, speciation, and behavior worldwide. These avenues of research have made seminal gains, including the latest use of Wolbachia to alter mosquito populations and a strengthened focus on using anti-Wolbachia therapies against filarial nematode infections. This work is further bolstered by a more refined knowledge of Wolbachia biology spanning mechanisms to relevance. Here we tally the most up-to-date knowledge in the field and review the immense implications that this global infection has for the basic and applied life sciences.