Science Friday - Lunch Edition

One of the cool things about my job is that once a week I get to hear lectures by really bright scientists from all over the world. To be honest, sometimes these lectures bore me to tears. But other times, like yesterday, I have the privilege of hearing one of the true movers and shakers of the scientific community speak about his work. I actually first heard about Jeffrey Gordon a couple months ago on NPR. 

Basically, Dr. Gordon's lab studies the bacteria and archaea (what he collectively calls microbiota) that live in your gut. Did you know that you have 10-100 trillion organism living inside of you right now? Gordon made the statement that if we look at the overall composition of a person, we are 90% microbiota and only 10% Homo sapien. Dr. Gordon's lab is interested in how the microbiota that is living inside of us affects our overall health including our ability to digest food and our predisposition to certain diseases (like diabetes, obesity, stomach ulcers, asthma, etc). 

He has made some interesting observations. The types of microbes living in my stomach or your stomach are completely different from the microbes living inside a person in China. What's more, the types of microbes inside you have a huge effect on your ability to digest food. Consider this (taken from the NPR story) :

Biologist Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis became quite well known a few years ago for a group of very skinny mice in his lab. The mice were skinny because they had no bacteria in their intestines. Gordon had kept them completely bacteria-free. If a bacteria-free mouse eats, food passes right through the intestine, significantly undigested.

So without bacteria, the mouse can eat and eat and eat and never gain weight. But when Gordon exposed the mice to [normal environmental bacteria], the mice suddenly turned their food into more calories and gained weight. So bacteria matter. Apparently, they can digest food far more efficiently.

Imagine a Cheerio sliding down the digestive tracts of an Inuit and an Argentine. The Inuit's intestinal bacteria are great at digesting oats; the Argentine's bacteria don't much care for oats. What happens? The Inuit gains weight. The Argentine makes more frequent visits to the restroom.

So why does all of this matter? Well on one hand, you may have noticed some new products on the shelves of your local grocery store that claim to boost your digestive health and overall immunity because they contain special bacteria. Do these products work? They probably have some beneficial effects (but in my opinion, eating regular yogurt will probably give you the same effect). I do, however, think it's funny that the companies re-named (and trademarked) the special pro-digestive and immune-boosting bacteria that they added to their products. 

Gordon's work is also important on a more global level. Knowing the biological properties of the microbes that are in the guts of malnourished people around the world could potentially have a huge impact on the type of health care and food they receive. Potentially, handing out rice and bread to everybody may not be the best way to do things. 

One thing is sure. We are not alone in this world. Our relationship with our environment and the other organisms living in it (and in us) is complex and delicate - something that will only get more interesting as new information comes to light. So, enjoy your lunch today and think about how many creatures you are actually having lunch with.