Microbiome

Key people

• Elisabeth BikScientific integrity expert (born 1966)
• Tim SpectorBritish epidemiologist
• Yogesh ShoucheIndian microbiologist
• Luis Carlos Mejía FrancoPanamanian phytopathologist and mycologist

Timeline

• 2019As of 2019, 85 of the then established 118 phyla had not had a single species described, presenting a challenge to understanding prokaryotic functional diversity.
• 2020As of 2020 microbial social adaptations in nature have been understudied.

Read

• The Microbiome and the BrainDavid Perlmutter · 2019Book
• Microbiome-Host InteractionsD. Dhanasekaran · 2021Book
• Super GutWilliam Davis · 2022Book
• Fiber FueledWill Bulsiewicz · 2020Book

Watch

• How Bacteria Rule Over Your Body – The MicrobiomeKurzgesagt – In a NutshellVideo
• Your Gut Microbiome: The Most Important Organ You’ve Never Heard Of | Erika Ebbel Angle | TEDxFargoTEDx TalksVideo
• The Hungry Microbiome: why resistant starch is good for youCSIROVideo

Listen

• The Microbiome PodcastThe American Microbiome InstitutePodcast
• The Microbiome MavericksDr. Amine ZorganiPodcast
• The Microbiome ReportBiohm HealthPodcast
• The Perfect Stool Understanding and Healing the Gut MicrobiomeLindsey ParsonsPodcast

Voices to follow

• Tim Spector@timspector · XBritish epidemiologist
• Elisabeth Bik@MicrobiomDigest · XScientific integrity expert (born 1966)
• Jessica Metcalf@DirtySci · XEcologist and evolutionary biologist
• Seth R. Bordenstein@Symbionticism · XMicrobiome Science researcher

By the numbers

• 73.5Global life expectancy (yrs) — global, 2024 (World Bank)
• 10.1Health spend (% GDP) — global, 2023 (World Bank)

Debates

• Is the human gut microbiome primarily shaped by diet or genetics?One view: Diet is the dominant factor, as changes in food intake can rapidly alter microbial composition and diversity. · Another: Genetics play a significant role, influencing host physiology and immune responses that select for certain microbial species.Open question
• Should microbiome-based therapies be widely adopted for common diseases?One view: Yes, targeted microbiome modulation offers promising new treatments for various conditions like IBS and C. difficile infection. · Another: No, more research is needed to understand long-term effects and ensure safety and efficacy across diverse patient populations.Open question
• Is there a single 'healthy' universal microbiome composition?One view: Yes, certain core microbial functions and keystone species are consistently associated with good health across populations. · Another: No, a healthy microbiome is highly individualized and varies based on geography, lifestyle, and host genetics.Open question

Glossary

• MicrobiomeThe collection of all microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses) and their genes living in a particular environment, such as the human body.
• MicrobiotaThe community of microorganisms themselves, without including their genes.
• DysbiosisAn imbalance or alteration in the composition and function of the microbiota, often associated with disease.
• ProbioticsLive microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.
• PrebioticsNon-digestible food ingredients that selectively stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial microorganisms in the gut.
• Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT)A procedure to transfer stool from a healthy donor into a recipient to restore a balanced gut microbiome.

Careers

Roles this can lead toward

Student research

Published policy papers by One Young India delegates — every delegate leaves published under their own name.

• The Role of Mental Health in Shaping Young Adults’ Positive Attitude and Emotions for Holistic Development: The India ScenarioAmartya Krishnaditya
• Universal Healthcare- Best Practices around the World and in IndiaSyed Fazil Shariq SA

Threads 4

Where this connects to other fields — and why it's worth knowing.

• The Make-or-Buy Decision Business

  Companies constantly decide whether to make something themselves or buy it from a supplier. Evolution made the same call inside your gut: humans lost the ability to build vitamins B12 and K, so we outsource them to bacteria living in our intestines. There's a make-or-buy business boundary drawn right through your belly.

• Emotion & Emotional Regulation Psychology

  The bacteria living in your gut make a lot of your serotonin and GABA, the same chemicals that steady your mood, and they message your brain through a nerve highway called the vagus nerve. Raise mice with no gut bacteria and they act visibly anxious. So your mood isn't just yours; your microbes get a vote.

• Human Development & Readiness Education

  Early childhood is a narrow window for two very different things: learning and immunity. Miss the early exposure to everyday germs and your immune system can misfire into lifelong allergies. Just like learning has sensitive periods, so does your microbe training, and once the window shuts, the settings lock in.

• Ecosystem Tipping Points Environment

  Take strong antibiotics and you can wipe out a key species of gut bacteria, and then a nasty bug called C. difficile explodes to fill the gap, like weeds taking over a forest after a fire. Your gut is a tiny ecosystem that can collapse just like a real one. And the fix, a fecal transplant, works by replanting a healthy jungle of microbes into the wreckage.