mess with them at our peril の意味は？

最後の一文（And, as ~ peril.）を訳していただけませんか？

Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us. Invisible to the naked eye, they are ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks and water and are present within every form of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly absorbing and hugely important book we mess with them at our peril.

翻訳ツールによると、「そして、ヨンが本書で説明しているように、私たちはこの生物に手を出すと危険な目にあう。」という訳が出てきたのですが、なぜ「we mess with them at our peril」で「この生物に手を出すと、危険な目にあう」になるのかがわかりません。