Some Budding Yeast I Used To Grow

Pure genius. This video makes me seriously question why we don't replace textbooks with stop-motion animation. Found here.

10 Ways the Human Microbiome* Project Could Change the Future

Check it out! Understanding the nature of the ecosystems within us is changing our whole view of medicine as we know it. Pretty crazy stuff! You might also want to read about the awesomeness that is the Human Microbiome Project. Or, if that's a bit to narrow of a scope for you, take a look at the Earth Microbiome Project.

*This blog post nicely outlines the theoretical difference between a microbiota and a microbiome. Although it's been nearly four years since its publication, people are still confused about which term to use. Personally, I think microbiome has a nicer ring to it, but out of habit and, um, correctness, I use the word microbiota to refer to the populations of microcritters inhabiting our various orifices. Technically, a microbiome is the collection of genomes associated with the little critters in your body. Just sayin'.

Seasons in the (Vaginal) Microbiota

Do me a favor and click on that picture. It's one of the first images I've ever seen that illustrates the ("average") human microbiota! I'm really loving the Lactobacilli section-- check out all that pink! One drawback of this graphic is that it doesn't show changes and cycles of local microbiota-- though to be honest, a 3D animation would be necessary to depict that AND the variety of species listed. It's true: like all ecosystems, the local microbiotas in our skin, mouth, gut, and genitals go through seasons.

It's crazy to think of how our local microbiotas change as we age, let alone the cycles they go through on a regular basis. The best example I can give is of the vagina and its veritable forest of Lactobacilli. A healthy vaginal microbiota is associated with a lot of Lactobax, but most women experience an increase of anaerobic bacteria during their periods. These anaerobic bacteria aren't exaaactly pathogenic, but many are associated with bacterial vaginosis and that weird fishy smell (good morning, ladies!). The chart below shows the changes in the microbiota of two ladies' vaginas at different points in their menstrual cycles.

I'd be interested to know how the vag forest would be affected by, or whether it might have an effect on, irregular periods. On a side note, I found this seed supplement regimen today that's supposed to help balance hormones for ladies with irregular cycles. It's simple and seems really effective.

Anyway, here's the gem of a study I got the above chart from. Happy Saturday!

Classy Colonization

Living the good life-- the well-colonized one, that is. Ginger kefir with lime and plenty of organisms.

On Epigenetics

When I was in seventh grade, I learned that our genes can't be changed, ever. Once we go from gamete to fertilized egg, that's it. Stuck for life. They even mentioned some poor schmuck who thought that genetic evolution due to behaviors (i.e., changes that didn't involve actual gene mutations) could be passed onto later generations. Ha! Hahaha!

Fast forward four years. I'm in high school now, and my AP Bio teacher is telling me that yeah, we have these genes, but some of them can get turned on and off, kinda like light switches. That the genes themselves are recipes, and the ribosome is the kitchen-- but who controls which meals are created, and when?

I didn't learn the word epigenetics until college, but by the time I did, I understood exactly what it meant. Epigenetics is the concept of the chef in the cooking metaphor-- it's the factors that control gene expression. Things like histone modification and DNA methylation, markers that promote or downregulate the use of those recipes. These physical modifications that surround DNA send messages like, "hey guys, let's, like, never transcribe this POKEMON gene." (Yes, there was a cancer gene that was called POKEMON... until Nintendo threatened to sue.)

The ways in which epigenetics manifests, or has the potential to do so, are nuts. Things like grandchildren of famine survivors being more susceptible to diabetes; chemical exposure resulting in disorders that persist through generations; and maybe even sexual preference.

Epigenetics is interesting to me because it's super relevant to the interactions between the microbiota and the human immune system. Certain microbes have the ability to flip genes on and off (for better or for worse) in susceptible individuals. Sometimes this is good: many people take probiotic supplements because they promote anti-inflammatory pathways and a tolerant immune system. On the other hand, some pathogenic bugs cause inflammation and sickness, even cancer.

It also makes our diet seem that much more important, like a drug we feed ourselves constantly. I think of the many stories I've heard of autoimmunity or cancer being reversed or vastly tempered through dietary modifications*, and I am amazed. It's both heartening and terrifying to know that we have the power to influence our biological makeup, simply by adjusting our everyday habits. It puts the onus on the individual to act in her best interests: eat right for your body, sleep enough, exercise, brush your teefs. Sometimes it isn't enough, but sometimes that's all it takes. Epigenetics is the bridge connecting the duality of nature vs. nurture; it's a clear demonstration of the capability of our environment to influence our phenotype (genetic output) and those of our progeny.

Personally, I think RuPaul says it the most eloquently.

*obv this is not par for the course, but I think we can all agree that it happens and is amazing, right?

Healing Leaky Gut Syndrome with Ecoimmunonutrition

Leaky guts happen, and they happen for a variety of potential reasons. They're associated with chronic inflammatory conditions including(but not limited to, obv) Candida overgrowth, psoriasis, autism, type 1 diabetes, and IBS. Although these disorders manifest differently on the outside, their pathophysiologies all have leaky gut in common.

So why does it matter if your gut permability is increased? Well, a few reasons. First, leaky gut is associated with an imbalanced gut forest. That means that pathogenic bacteria and yeasts are dominating the microbial population and generally being jerks. Second, if those nasty microbes escape the holding cell of your intestines and make it into your bloodstream, that pisses off your immune system, which has to deal with the mess. Lastly, in your immune system's smothering rage, it will stop being able to tell what is you and what is not you, and you could end up with an autoimmune disorder. Don't believe me? Take a closer look at this quote from that Wikipedia article:

"Together with the gut-associated lymphoid tissue and the neuroendocrine network, the intestinal epithelial barrier, with its intercellular tight junctions, controls the equilibrium between tolerance and immunity to nonself-antigens. When the finely tuned trafficking of macromolecules is dysregulated in genetically susceptible individuals, both intestinal and extraintestinal autoimmune disorders can occur." (Fasano and Shea-Donohue, 2005)

Now, this is all very depressing, of course. Nobody wants a leaky gut, and nobody wants autoimmunity going on in their bodies. But wait! What's that on the horizon? A bird? A plane?

IT'S ECOIMMUNONUTRITION!

This study, published in China in 2009, found that "Application of ecoimmunonutrition can protect intestinal mucosal barrier in rats with operative stress, increase the expression of occludin, maintain the gut epithelial tight junction, and eliminate gut bacterial translocation." Epigenetics FTW!

So what is ecoimmunonutrition, exactly? From my understanding, it's basically supplementation with probiotics and maybe some other immunomodulatory functional foods. I like the word, though. It looks like it was coined in Sweden all the way back in 1998 (!!!), when Will Smith was gettin' jiggy and Palmolive still made dish soap with antibiotics in it. Go Swedes!

Of course, there are other ways to treat a leaky gut: Candida diets, specific carb diets, blah blah blah. This method is by far the coolest and most integral, though, because neither of those diets work as efficiently or as well without probiotic supplementation. Also because it involves eating bacteria... duh.

L

PS The kefir is freaking delicious.

Ingesting Ecosystems: Grow and Eat Your Own Self-Propagating Probiotics!

No, but for real. This study came out about a week ago, and it's one of the first to use non-culturing methods to identify microbial populations in water kefir grains. Super important-- when researchers did that to ladies' coochie snorchers, they discovered organisms that they never imagined were part of the vagina forest. Besides the obvs (Lactobacilli), they found a heck of a lot of Bifidobacterium strains in kefir samples, which is promising for those with digestive issues.

I ordered some kefir grains from a random seller on etsy. By chance, he lives less than 20 minutes away from me, so the kefir grains pictured above contain fairly local microbes. I reconstituted them earlier this week, and now I'm making my first batch of kefir.

Anyway, I am super excited for the microbial revolution to start in my digestive tract. Will let you know how it goes.

L