Microbiomes are the collective and highly personal assortment of microorganisms that live in, on, and around us. If genetically modified effectively, these "black boxes" may help us cure cancer, understand how we can adapt to rising temperatures, play a role in mental health, and improve nutrition in children.
microbiome
Some cancers can be detected based on the fungi that grow within tumors, researchers say. Could this discovery lead to a life-saving screening technique? ACSH debated a pair of "fat acceptance" advocates on Dr. Phil. Let's take a closer look at the discussion.
Not only does your diet fuel your body, but it also fuels and shapes your microbiome, which in turn can alter your mood, change your response to pathogens, and maybe, just maybe, alter your energy metabolism.
We learn more and more every day about the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live within us and support us. It's our own personal world: the microbiome. And researchers have identified ecologic niches with varying microbial occupants. And it seems that cities have unique microbiomes, too.
Deep in our gut, our microbiologic fellow travelers await the “manna” from heaven that we provide them, prechewed and ready for assimilation. In return, they provide nutrients and exert both pro- and anti-inflammatory influences on our well-being. In many ways, aided by the microbiome, we are what we eat – if only there were a Rosetta Sone to help us know how a particular food altered the offerings of our microbial dependents.
Once again, it seems you are what you eat, but only if you consider what your digestive tract’s microbiome is willing to snack on.
Where does the 2600 tons of oxygen we use daily in the hospitals come from? Not all creatures have a microbiome, what is up with that? Why are lies and misinformation so resilient? And two lessons from history, one about where we shelter, the other about "travel papers."
For a first-year surgical resident, the appendix (specifically, it’s removal) represents a prized surgical operation. For trained surgeons, the appendectomy is usually an urgent affair that requires giving up sleep or angering patients who have their office care delayed. Understanding the “true” role of the appendix requires both the hygiene hypothesis and the microbiome.
A new video released by the magazine attempts to explain why there are more obese Americans today than 30-40 years ago. It claims that even if people eat healthy and exercise, it's easier to be obese today because of three factors -- but only one of those is likely to be correct.
A small study of the Thanksgiving cranberry raises the issue of when science in the public interest transitions from informing to advocacy and then to marketing.
We don't know if probiotics are a good idea during antibiotic therapy. So eat plenty of fiber -- such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains -- instead.
The bacterial symbionts living in our gut, the microbiome, is subject to the evolutionary pressures our body – and by extension our diet, activity, and geography – create. Nature provides good examples of both change and resilience. Can we learn from those examples?