Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome

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Eat more fibre Most of us eat only half the recommended 30g a day. But start slowly – our guts don’t like rapid change A microbiome refers to all the microscopic organisms within a particular environment, and all of the things that they need to sustain themselves. They exist at lots of different scales and we have them all around, on and inside us. So, for example, our planet has a microbiome and we have microbiomes on our skin and in our lungs and in our gut. Our microbiomes have evolved with us and they change and grow with us over our lifetime. They have an important symbiotic role in our health: they need us to survive, but we need them too. Why is the gut microbiome important?

If you want to learn more about what’s going on in your gut, the first step is to turn your poo blue. How long it takes for a muffin dyed with blue food colouring to pass through your system is a measure of your gut health: the median is 28.7 hours; longer transit times suggest your gut isn’t as healthy as it could be. We are only now beginning to understand the importance of the gut microbiome: could this be the start of a golden age for gut-health science? The scale of the task is huge: there is 1.5kg of bacteria in our guts.’ Illustration: Lisa Sheehan/The Observer

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Kinross makes it clear that the composition of the microbiome has been implicated in many conditions, but the truth is that this is really nothing new. The great unknowns are the exact mechanisms by which the composition of the microbiome may (and I stress may) be a factor in these conditions, and the science is so young that there simply isn't the evidence to make any definitive claims; given the extreme number of confounders, it's very unlikely we ever will. The “gut microbiome” is the name we have used to describe not only the wildly diverse collection of microbes that live there, but also what happens when they interact with each other and with our bodies. In other words, it’s an ecosystem made up of trillions of microbial life forms going about their business inside us, as we go about ours. We compared these diets to those in Sub-Saharan Africa where rural communities have very high-fibre, plant-based diets. They eat meat very rarely, and when they do, it is very lean. They exercise a lot and live in social communities, where they farm together, cook together and share plates of food. So, they exchange and share microbes through lots of different routes. As a result, they have a much more diverse and resilient population of gut micro-organisms than we do.

A very small Italian study using a similar commercial probiotic, Sivomixx, piqued his interest after it suggested acute Covid patients treated with it might be less likely to end up in ICU or to die, and eight times less likely to suffer respiratory failure. Bjarnason is hoping to start a larger study in the next few months. A fountain of knowledge and sense in an overwhelming world of science Rhiannon Lambert, Registered Nutritionist and Sunday Times Bestselling Author In this mindblowing book, scientist and surgeon James Kinross explains how the organisms that live within us have helped us evolve, shaped our biology and defined the success of our species. But just as we have discovered this delicate and complex ecosystem within us, it is being irrevocably destroyed through antibiotic addition, industrial food production, the globalisation of our diets and lifestyles, and the destruction of our environment.

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Love the story about how animals, and humans can have a poo transplant, which in some cases can save your life.Our gut microbiome is being badly damaged in our early lives. This not only promotes inflammation and sensitises us to a poor diet, but our microbiomes are less resilient and diverse. That’s why at a population level we’re seeing alarming increases in the risk of colorectal cancer, asthma, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic conditions. Ray was readmitted to St Mary’s critically unwell and was soon diagnosed with Clostridium difficile (C diff) infection (officially, this bacteria has now been renamed Clostridiodes). A “hospital-acquired infection”, this disease is a complication of 20th-century medicine and an unintended consequence of Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, the first effective mass-produced antibiotic, in 1928. It is a global problem that afflicts 500,000 people in the United States each year and it kills 29,000 of them.

A spellbinding explanation of microbiology that will help you get to the bottom of health and happiness John Vincent, Co-Founder of Leon In this ground-breaking book, surgeon and expert on the microbiome, James Kinross, takes us on a guided tour of our extraordinary inner universe, showing how our relationship with microbes may hold the key to why we are increasingly succumbing to diseases and conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's, autoimmune conditions and allergies. He highlights how hyperglobalization and our addiction to antibiotics has transformed our internal ecosystems and why this matters so much to our future health and happiness. The sense of revulsion we feel when we’re faced with human excrement (or even just the thought of it) is, in part, a response to the way it looks and smells. But that revulsion is also a psychological reflex, ingrained by potty training and social stigma. This aversion is an important safety mechanism: handwashing and sewer systems prevent the spread of diseases that have killed millions.His recent book, Dark Matter, looks at the role of micro-organisms – harmful and helpful – in our bodies and the impact on our health of their imbalance in our system and in the world around us. In this blog*, Dr James Kinross tells us more and offers some tips. What is a microbiome? I knew the gut microbiome was important to our health and I wanted to focus my future career on understanding how": Meet James Kinross If you're a young parent, this book is particularly crucial for you. The gut microbiome plays a significant role in the health of young children, and Kinross provides actionable insights on what can be done to ensure better health for our children in the future. An urgent investigation into the brave new world of the microbiome and how it shapes our lives and health.