Most of us (I'll speak for us women) aren't necessarily proud of our farts. A new study shows that we should be, male or female. According to the article, "Got Gas? It Could Mean You've Got Healthy Gut Microbes" having up to 18 passes of gas a day is normal and healthy. "Eating foods that cause gas is the only way for the microbes in the gut to get nutrients," says Purna Kashya, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  Michaeleen Doucleff, who is the author of "Got Gas? It Could Mean You've Got Healthy Gut Microbes" does a great job of presenting the facts of the study in a way that 'average level science brains' like me can understand. Doucleff discusses how gassy foods like broccoli, beans, and cabbage feed our gut microbes. "All these microbes are gas-making fools. They eat up unused food in your large intestine, like fiber and other carbohydrates we don't digest, and churn out a bunch of gases as waste," says Doucleff. Of course, too much gas could be signs of something more serious - but all in moderation is a good sign. Doucleff uses quotes from a credible source, like the one I used above. Doucleff incorporates a combination of the ethos and logos elements using trustworthiness and facts throughout her article.
I really enjoyed reading this article. I think it was presented really well and all of the proper information was set forth. As I have with my other articles, I don't exactly feel the need to say that I hope more research is done on the subject. I think this study is interesting by all means, but doesn't depend on the well being of the human race. Regardless, I still enjoyed blogging about gassy microbes! 

It's been known for some time that our gut microbes differ depending on what we eat. Researchers are surprised to find out when the gut microbes of the Hazda tribe are drastically different from anything they've ever seen.
This week I am going to base my blog on the article, "The Surprising Gut Microbes of African Hunter-Gatherers" by Nick Stockton. Stockton presents the facts about the study without sounding bias or as if he is giving his own opinion. He uses quotes from scholarly microbiologists and a nutritional anthropologist implementing the ethos rhetorical element into his work. By using credible sources and siting their credentials in his paper (ie. "said co-author Alyssa Crittenden, a nutritional anthropologist from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.") this makes Stockton's article more convincing and trustworthy. When deciding which article to blog about every week, I tend to leave behind the ones that don't have any quotes from credible sources or sources at all, for that matter; they just aren't reliable!
Another way Stockton incorporates ethos into this article is by presenting a study done on the Hazda tribe gut microbes. "To study the difference between the ancient and modern gut, researchers analyzed stool samples from 16 Italian urbanites and 27 Hadza foragers, of both genders." The reader is then presented with the picture I placed below, which I found very helpful; pictures are always beneficial to the reader when writing an essay or an article!

 

Stockton presents the study in a way that somebody who 'Isn't even close to being a scientist but is still interested in microbes' can still understand (like me.)
Throughout my blogging career (about 3/4 of a semester) I've learned a lot about gut microbes. My all-time favorite microbe fact so far is that there are six pounds of microbes in our gut alone... more or less! I think there is a lot to learn about the microbes in our gut and they can tell us a lot about our bodies and human life as a whole!

Say "Yummy" to Old Milk!

Imagine if the milk you bought six months ago was still drinkable? Professor and Agricultural Experiment Station researcher, Sanjev Anand, has "begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms." According to the article "Diary Scientist Targets Heat-Resistant Microbes" drinking that six-month-old milk may be a safe possibility in the near future.
This was one of my favorite articles to read since I have began blogging about microbes. The way the information presented in the article was as if the author knew exactly what questions to answer at each point in the article. One thing I did find a little odd was that the name of the author was not presented on the website, www.phys.org. Why the name is not there I am unsure; regardless, this was a very well presented article.The article presents the facts of the experiment and which steps were executed to make the research successful.
Obvious to some, bacteria is what makes milk and other dairy products spoil. Dairy farmers pasteurize their product to get rid of harmful bacteria and microbes but some are able to survive it - otherwise known as the thermophiles. Thermophiles form spores to protect themselves from heat and makes them, "trickier to activate" as claimed by Anand.
While this information may be new to some of us, Anand and his team of eighteen students have been doing similar research on the topic for over five years. Like I say in majority of my blogs, there is much more research to be executed to perfect the theory. It's a good fantasy to think that one day we may not have to worry about our food going bad... and all natural way of course!

 

has begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms, a major challenge for the world's dairy industry.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dairy-scientist-heat-resistant-microbes.html#jCp

has begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms, a major challenge for the world's dairy industry.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dairy-scientist-heat-resistant-microbes.html#jCp

has begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms, a major challenge for the world's dairy industry.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dairy-scientist-heat-resistant-microbes.html#jCp

has begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms, a major challenge for the world's dairy industry.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dairy-scientist-heat-resistant-microbes.html#jCp

has begun developing ways to combat heat-resistant microorganisms, a major challenge for the world's dairy industry.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dairy-scientist-heat-resistant-microbes.html#jCp

Microbes Rule the Earth, and We just Live on It

One thing that I have come to realize throughout the semester in my Biology class is that microbes have just as much power to keep us alive as they do to kill us. A new study suggests that microbes may be responsible for the largest extinction in the history of our planet. Of course, this extinction occurred way before human life existed - even before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Scientists call this microbe-induced extinction the "end-Permian extinction" which began about 252 million years ago and lasted approximately 20,000 years.
The article, "Small Microbes Almost Killed All Life On Earth, Study Suggests" tells all about the deathly microbes. Author of this article, Deborah Netburn does a good job presenting the facts of this new discovery. Netburn doesn't present what actually caused this extinction until the middle-end of the article - something I would have presented earlier on. Eventually I did learn that the source of this extinction was the Methanosarcina. Methanosarcina is a " tiny methane-spewing microbe" - according to the article. I did like how Netburn presented the clues as to why scientists think that this extinction could have transpired. One of the clues Netburn discusses were the huge spikes in CO2 levels at the time of the extinction. "If the C02 came from the sudden combustion of a coal field in Siberia it wouldn't behave this way. It has this special character that is consistent with microbial processes" says  MIT geophysicist Dan Rothman.
Rothman understands that this idea sounds a little far fetched, but it is "...consistent, and that's what is necessary to move forward and provide further tests." Similar to other articles I have written a blog about - more research is to be conducted. I'm unsure as to how concluding this discovery could benefit us today, but I'm sure any scientist could answer that question.
Microbes are tiny but powerful. As microbiologists like to say, 'Microbes rule the Earth, and we just live on it.'

After reading several articles on microbes, I'm starting to wonder if there is anything microbes can't do. Whether you're a dark chocolate lover or not - taking your daily dose of the chocolatey goodness may be worth it in the long run. It's been known for some time that dark chocolate can actually be good for you; some of the benefits provided by the cocoa in dark chocolate includes improvement in vascular function and increased insulin sensitivity. Daily consumption can do as much as reduce cholesterol by a median of two points. Luckily, I am one of the dark chocolate lovers and the article, "Why is Dark Chocolate Good for You? Thank Your Microbes" by Katherine Harmon Courage caught my eye. "Cocoa is good for your heart because of fermentation by gut bacteria, creating anti-inflammatory compounds that improve blood vessel function," says Courage. This sentence basically sums up the newly discovered relationship between the cocoa in dark chocolate and our gut microbes.
Leading some of the experiments for this research is John Finley, a professor of food sciences at Louisiana State University. Finley and students conducted a study that simulated the human gut by making an artificial digestive system. With this "fake" digestive system Finley was able to see the process of chocolate through the human gut. At the end of the experiment it was found that, "They [microbes] fermented these compounds—flavonols that include catechin and epicatechin, which are also found in green tea—into smaller anti-inflammatories that could be absorbed into the bloodstream."
Researchers interviewed in the article said that there is definitely more research that needs to be done; for now its safe to say that dark chocolate will serve as a sufficient supplement to take. This won't be hard for those of us who are already fans of the cocoa goodness... Feast on dark chocolate lovers!

Blame Microbes for Crohn's Disease

I have written a few blogs discussing the affect of gut microbes on the human body. Obesity, mental health, and now Crohn's disease. Ramnik Xavier of Massachusetts general hospital led a study that involved more than 1,500 patients who had Crohn's disease. According to the study, the patients who had Crohn's disease had, "less diverse populations of gut microbes."
The article, "Mix Of Gut Microbes May Play Role In Crohn's Disease" describes this study. Author, Rob Stein, states, "More than a million Americans suffer from Crohn's, which seems to start when an overreactive immune system causes abdominal pain, diarrhea, bleeding, weight loss and other symptoms". One of the treatments for the disease is harsh steroids or having pieces of the digestive system removed. I am always for treatments that could be less harmful or chemical related to tend to diseases. Stein says that this study could lead to the possibility of an alternative to the harsh antibiotics. The article suggests that doctors may use something to resemble the bacteria that Crohn's patients have a lack of.
I think this study has a lot of potential and should be further researched. Some of the other articles I have done relating to microbes having affect on human diseases are heading in the same direction. From what I can tell, it seems as if there is a lot of hope for this field of study. I am unsure as to how long the affect of microbes on human diseases has been studied - but as far as my own personal knowledge its fairly new to me. Like I mentioned before, I am all for the closest alternative to remedies or treatments being organic. I think humans tend to become unaware at times of what they are putting into their bodies. Sometimes antibiotics and other prescriptions can harm one's body if not taken properly. Hopefully studies like this one will lead to a healthier alternative!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/12/289041150/mix-of-gut-microbes-may-play-role-in-crohns-disease

The McDonald's Isn't Making You Fat, It's Your Gut Microbes

According to an article, "Gut Check: Based on New Microbe Study, Should We Really Blame Geography for Obesity?" gut microbes may be the cause for human obesity. The author Brenden Buhler discusses a recent study by Taichi Suzuki, a grad student from UC Berkley. According to the article, firmicutes and bacteroidetes are the two governing microbes located in our gut microbiome. Gram negative bacterium tend to be more prominent in slimmer people. Suzuki's work consistently showed that the farther North people lived, the more they increase in size. The article does state that these microbes may not be the only factor contributing to human obesity, but could be a correlation. 
I think this article has an interesting proposal, but agree with the fact that it can't be what is causing human obesity alone. It has become pretty obvious that if you eat right and exercise on a regular basis, you won't be obese- regardless of your gut microbes. Obesity, mainly in America, is the result of humans decrease in desire to exercise and increase in consumption of processed foods. It would be an interesting fact to see if over time our gut microbes have contributed to obesity because of our modern day habits. I am curious to know if gut microbes may have been a contribution to obesity two-hundred years ago. 
While I have my opinion about what causes obesity, I do believe that this study has potential. New studies lead to new discoveries all the time. So, who knows, this study could lead to something great for human life!