7 ways The BioCollective Will Accelerate Microbiome Research and Change Medicine

7 ways The BioCollective Will Accelerate Microbiome Research and Change Medicine

The BioCollective – transforming and accelerating microbiome research and novel therapies – while saving our human microbiome diversity and maybe you. Your poop is more than just waste. If you think that microbiome research has changed medicine – you ain’t seen nothing yet. The BioCollective (TBC) is transforming citizen science microbiome research from sample collection to the potential for providing a return on your initial “deposit”. TBC is building a microbiome data and sample repository to help scientists accelerate their research and development of potential therapeutics. TBC’s unique approach to microbiome citizen science research is due to the perfect trinity of collaborators: Martha Carlin, Jack Gilbert, PhD, and Suzanne Vernon, PhD. TBC is the brainchild of self-trained citizen scientist Martha Carlin, a former systems analyst who “turned around” struggling companies. Martha realized that for microbiome research to aid or even cure microbiome-related diseases, a new, integrative, multi-pronged approach was needed and a wider diversity of people should be sampled. The BioCollective provides solutions to many of the current issues with human microbiome research. A clean poop sample TBC Member issue: People are often totally “icked” out and may have trouble collecting high quality sample. Researcher issue: TBC Members have difficulty

Martha Carlin: A Visionary Citizen Scientist Changing Microbiome and Medical Research

Martha Carlin: A Visionary Citizen Scientist Changing Microbiome and Medical Research

Self-trained citizen scientist, Martha Carlin, founds The BioCollective to accelerate microbiome research and therapies. “Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson His vacant stare told Martha Carlin something was wrong with her 44-year-old husband. Many doctor’s visits later, the diagnosis – Parkinson’s Disease. A systems analyst and expert in turning around companies, Martha Carlin was determined to turn around the doctor’s prognosis that Parkinson’s would kill her husband. So for the next 15 years, she began pouring her energy, time, and disposable income into becoming a self-trained scientist. Starting with one of Michael J. Fox’s book, Martha read hundreds of books about nutrition, disease, and immunology. With the help of a childhood friend who was a college librarian and Googling for unfamiliar terms, Martha read scientific journal articles. Slowly she put together a mind map of different potential genetic and environmental influences that might have led to her husband’s Parkinson’s disease. During Parkinson’s Disease, brain cells stop producing the chemical messages that allow for coordinated movement. Patients gradually lose control of their muscles. As she interviewed Parkinson’s patients, Martha noticed that many had frequently used antibiotics, had chronic strep

4 Microbiome Educational Activities for the Classroom

4 Microbiome Educational Activities for the Classroom

Four different activities help educators from K-12 and undergraduate teach students about the importance of the human microbiome. Want to teach about the importance of the human microbiome, but don’t really know where to start? The ASM education blog released a post – Bring the Magic of the Microbiome to Your Classroom – pulling together four of the microbiome exercises that have been published in JMBE recently. Take a look at these different classroom microbiome activities. I especially, love that there’s one – Microbe Motels – for K-8 and am looking forward to trying it out! Check out the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) published by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). JMBE is the educational journal of the society and features excellent classroom activities. It’s open access and even FREE for members to publish in! WIN WIN!

Book Review:”Let Them Eat Dirt” – Save Your Child by Saving Their Microbes!

Book Review:”Let Them Eat Dirt” – Save Your Child by Saving Their Microbes!

  “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World” provides suggestions for a microbially rich and healthy childhood. Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World talks directly to parents about the importance of microbes to your young kids. Authors  Brett Finlay, PhD and Marie-Claire Arrieta, PhD have an excellent message – let kids get dirty and quit abusing antibiotics. Let Them Eat Dirt is an engaging read clearly written and written clearly by scientist parents who have been in the “parenting trenches”. This microbiome parenting book is a fun read. Several times I laughed out loud at the references to pregnancy and parenting woes. As a scientist, I appreciated their overall message about the importance of microbes to our health.

“Gut Check:The Microbiome Game” the Reprinting!

“Gut Check:The Microbiome Game” the Reprinting!

Professionally printed version of Gut Check:The Microbiome Game available as a promotion for a limited time from Qiagen. Fecal transplant? Plasmids? Nosocomial Infections? Microbiome? Whether you’re teaching microbiology or just interested in a fun, biologically correct game for family game night, Gut Check is your game. Available for a year or so as a PDF printable, Gut Check has been revised and as is available for purchase through MOBIO for a limited time. >UPDATED 5/6/21 – Pre-printed copies of Gut Check are offered as promotional material from Qiagen. Please see the PDF printable link if you would like to download and print your own copy!< Gut Check: The Microbiome Game Overview For the uninitiated  uncolonized, Gut Check is a board game about the microbes living in your gut and how different life events affect the microbes and your health. I reviewed the game in 2015, so check that post for details. In summary, players start with a positive gut score and attempt to build their beneficial microbiome and reap its benefits while avoiding antibiotics and pathogens. Events in the game include everything from bus trips and going to work sick to eating veggie-filled pizza and synthesizing vitamins. Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance