Comments on: Science needs your money (and your gut bacteria)

By: beesbees

beesbees — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 01:58:00 +0000

It looks like American Gut is associated with more university researchers so the data’s more likely to make it into published papers. uBiome looks more like a biotech startup, like 23andme for your colon.

By: noah django

noah django — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:23:00 +0000

link to Cory’s post on µbiome last week
http://boingboing.net/2012/11/28/crowdsourcing-the-microbiome.html

wat do, Maggie? which one is better?

By: Aloisius

Aloisius — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Do Canadians or Mexicans refer to themselves as Americans?

By: drokhole

drokhole — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 03:26:00 +0000

The Wild Life of Our Bodies
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Life-Our-Bodies-Predators/dp/006180648X

Perchance? Great book, either way. Just finished reading it.

By: bklynchris

bklynchris — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:46:00 +0000

I will not presume to suggest an at home inoculation method but here is an interesting husband wife microflora donation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html?pagewanted=all

By: bklynchris

bklynchris — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:42:00 +0000

I am so firmly a believer in this that I too will do poo for two. Seriously though, there is some fascinating anecdotal and peer reviewed shit out there.

The anecdotal:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html?pagewanted=all

The peer reviewed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2930426/?tool%3Dpubmed

than that book that guy wrote can someone please remember this for me : (

It has been found that women’s gut flora changes during pregnancy and that the gut flora in diabetics is markedly different that those who are not. Some studies have even suggested that neurochemistry dynamically interacts with the intestinal microbiome.

Anyway, these studies are one of the new frontiers in medicine and I expect that there will be a paradigm shift in our understanding of human illness, disease, and disorder as a result. This makes me wish I was still in grad school (did I just say that?).

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:34:00 +0000

@welcomeabored:disqus :
Good question. The procedure she had has only been around for 15 years or so, and I don’t know if it’s long-term effects of microbial diversity have been studied yet. She might take some convincing to win over, though.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:30:00 +0000

If you and your wife took the tests, would you do anything with the results?

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:19:00 +0000

@welcomeabored:disqus : Sorry if that was a misfire. Next drink’s on me.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Yes dear, the language just seemed a bit too direct. I normally love Brainspore’s sense of humor. (You may recall I also bridled at being called a bitch.)

I’ve spent five days alone. I think I hear a martini calling my name.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Did you not get the part about it being a colonic swab?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:47:00 +0000

Hey, it’s no skin off my nose.

By: Roberto Landaeta

Roberto Landaeta — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:35:00 +0000

You beat me to it. And (besides cheaper) it allows for international delivery. American Gut is…well, american (US, not continent).

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:34:00 +0000

(Ow!)

In all seriousness, my family is in a similar situation, though my wife’s microbial diversity is probably diminished due to a surgical procedure that resulted in some pretty major habitat destruction. Sounds like an interesting study.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:29:00 +0000

I seem to have struck a nerve. Sorry.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Yeah, well y’all can take that colonic sampling swab and stick it up your ass!!

[EDIT to add: …then send it back in the enclosed pre-paid envelope for laboratory study, of course.]

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:19:00 +0000

You joke (and thank you for that), but I went directly to the website and bought ‘Microbes for Two’. I’ve been curious for years about what the microbial diversity of our guts may tell us about our overall health, now and in the future. I’ll get to test my theory, that my husband’s gut is healthier and more diverse than mine, even though I eat from a wider range of foods. I’ve taken more antibiotics over a lifetime and I’ve been through chemo.

I think this will get full funding. Alot of folks will give a shit.

By: Pace Ricciardelli

Pace Ricciardelli — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:45:00 +0000

There’s a similar (competing?) indiegogo site set up for μBiome, which has a significantly lower monetary goal and more donations (currently). American Gut is making its data public, while μBiome is “looking into it”.

http://www.indiegogo.com/ubiome

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:32:00 +0000

…in exchange for a $99 donation, you’ll get a kit that will enable scientists to do DNA extraction and 16sRNA sequencing on the bacteria they find in a sample of your skin, saliva, or poop.

Well, good luck finding that many people willing to give a shit.