The Secret is Out!

The Secret is Out!

In an (Invisible) Galaxy (Not) so Far Away The mirrored, twinkling hall of the exhibit The Secret World Inside You transports you to the fantastical world of your microbial self. This new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York educates young and old about the microbes that live in and on each of us and outnumber our human cells. What are these organisms? How do we get them? Where do they live? What do they do? How do they influence our health and behavior?  Curator Susan Perkins, PhD kindly invited and toured me, another science mom friend (Robin Munro), and our oldest daughters (ages 7 and 8) through the exhibit. We were all astounded at the fantastic features and information in the exhibit. It was one of those rare exhibits that appeals to all ages. Microbial Fun for Everyone The three years of planning by curators Susan Perkins, PhD and Rob DeSalle, PhD and AMNH staff are obvious in the attention to detail, scientific accuracy, and engaging content of The Secret World Inside You exhibit. The curators have developed the perfect exhibit to bring everyone together to this common table to learn about the quickly

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

  The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year is a new evidence-based book by Dr. Alice Callahan that uses science to common questions new parents ask in the first year of an infant’s life. I reviewed the first portion of this book last month for Science and Sensibility. I greatly enjoyed Dr. Callahan’s no-nonsense approach and reliance on scientific consensus when discussing different issues, especially vaccinations. Additionally, she identifies gaps in the data and specifically discusses how proper study design may help resolve remaining issues. Given Dr. Callahan’s background in nutrition and fetal physiology, I was particularly interested in reading her comments on beginning solid foods. Some of the recommendations were surprising to me, such as the benefits of feeding meat, especially liver, to babies. She also does an excellent job discussing the current literature on food allergies and timing of food introduction. Overall, I found the honest, open, and un-judgmental tone throughout the book refreshing in the collection of parenting books. Below is an interview I did with Dr. Callahan about the impetus behind her new book, how she defines scientific consensus, how she chose her  book content, her future projects, and how science and parenting intertwine in

The Good Gut & the Big MAC diet

The Good Gut & the Big MAC diet

The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health Just as health food shelves are brimming with a myriad of probiotics, so are the bookstore shelves overflowing with books on the microbiome and diet. The Good Gut by microbiome research scientists, Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, stands head and shoulders above the rest providing an evidence-based approach to healthy eating and a microbiome friendly diet. Using interesting personal stories and great metaphors, the Sonnenburgs engage readers with their clear explanations of the quickly developing field of how the microbiome influences human health. Covering all the relevant topics, from what the microbiome is, to how it is first acquired, how it changes with age, diet, illness, and antibiotics, The Good Gut gives its readers a solid, but realistic foundation in the science of the microbiome. Throughout the book, Erica and Justin interweave the history of humans as a species and a society, and the history of medicine and science. They share stories of how our Western lifestyle may be destroying our natural biodiversity in and on ourselves. I enjoy that they talk about humans as just a giant tube of bacteria, but then again, I’m an advocate

Microbial reads

Microbial reads

It’s been a nerve-wracking week here in Baltimore, but I wanted to quickly share a few good microbial related reads for the Fabulous Friday Feature(s). Grownups might enjoy the book Follow Your Gut: The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes (TED Books) by Rob Knight, leading microbiome researcher and head of the American Gut project, and Brendan Buhler. I’ve just started on my copy, but Maria Popova at Brain Pickings has done a nice review: “Our Microbes, Ourselves” that discusses in her usual insightful, creative, and interdisciplinary perspective.

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes

Besides my family and science, I have many other passions. My latest passion has become children’s books. As a kid, I was either reading or outside, or sometimes reading outside! I loved both, though I do remember several times my mother telling me to “put down that book and go outside”. I was the stereotypical bespectacled nerdy kid with her nose in a book most of the time. So I guess it makes sense that now as a mom, I’m returning to kids books with a gusto. Of course, I love Dr. Seuss and his silly rhymes still inspire me (See a post on nutches and niches) but when I first found beautifully written and illustrated kids science books, I was instantly hooked. The problem is, there are few kids books about bacteria, and even fewer about beneficial bacteria. What books there are focus on “germs” and pathogens. Last year writer Nicola Davies and illustrator Emily Sutton began to fill this gap with Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes   I first read about it in the New York Times and immediately preordered 2 copies of the book. After all, I had to send one to school too! Tiny Creatures