Gut check Photo/MARGAREt LARKIN
Local scientists explore the microscopic worlds
W
hen I was in the third grade, my class took a field trip to the Ruth Lilly Health Center in Indianapolis. As the lights dimmed in the amphitheater, a spotlight directed our gaze towards TAM—the Transparent Anatomical Manikin best known as the skinless, winged model on the cover of Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero. Even as 8-year-olds, we knew TAM was beautiful. Her organs blinked on and off while a disembodied voice narrated the story of her parts. We giggled when her breasts flickered and gawked at her endless intestines. But TAM was missing the 100 trillion microbes that reside in what scientists sometimes call the “forgotten organ”—the human microbiome. This is the teeming community of bacteria, fungi and viruses that silently make their home in our guts.
within the human gut by Josie Luciano
Last week, I saw TAM on sale for $1,900 on a museum listserv, and thought I would write her a primer on her missing part. Dear TAM, grab a sandwich. This is going to take about 12 minutes to read.
Small WondErS The fact that we’re crawling with microbes is not breaking news. Humans have been aware of bacteria since the late 17th century when Dutch basketmaker and amateur scientist Antony Van Leeuwenhoek discovered tiny “animalcules” swimming in circles under his microscope.
Over the years, microbiology grew up alongside natural selection and germ theory. By the 1870s, the initial wonder and amazement surrounding microbes had been replaced by a shock-and-awe campaign aimed at destroying all disease-causing pathogens. Today, germ theory still maintains a strong foothold in hospitals (a necessary thing), sterilized playgrounds (an unnecessary thing), and at every CVS checkout counter across the country that sells antibacterial hand soap (a thing that was banned by the FDA last month). But just as CVS is preparing to stop stocking their shelves with these products, they’re also restocking the Greek yogurt and probiotic
supply. Things are changing, and it definitely seems like the narrative around microbes is too. “Germs” are now “bacteria,” and “bacteria” is now a “good guy.” Sort of. As in any other ecosystem, good guys are only good when they’re in the right place at the right time, and the same goes for the bad ones. Whatever part of our forgotten organ they live in—stomach, small intestine, large intestine—every part has a different state of “normal” that changes over time. For humans, our long-term relationship with microbes begins on Day One. During birth, babies travel from the sterile womb to a world that is decidedly not. On the way out, they pick up their first residents and spend the next few years nurturing them. It’s a subject that David Mills, a professor and biochemist at the University of
GUT CHECK
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