Below, we’ve listed the sources we’ve referenced in this episode of Insufficient Facts! If you’d like to dig deeper into any of the topics discussed, here’s where you can do so. And, if you’d like to ask the team anything specific on the topics discussed in this episode, or topics you’d like to hear about in future episodes, be sure to ask the panelists.
Intro to the Microbiome
History of medicine: Origin of the term microbiome and why it matters: Susan L. Prescott in the Human Microbiome Journal (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245223171730012X?via%3Dihub)*
Recent Headlines/Research
Do gut bacteria make second homes in our brains? – Science article (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/do-gut-bacteria-make-second-home-our-brains)
Science Fiction/Science Fact
Shortchanging a Baby’s Microbiome: C-sections and formula feeding could be interfering with a critical biological process by Toni Harman in Scientific American
(https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/shortchanging-a-babys-microbiome/)
Bacterium Reverses Autismlike Behavior in Mice: Findings support idea that the gut’s microbiome has a role by Sara Reardon in Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bacterium-reverses-autism-like-behavior-in-mice/)
Immunization with a heat-killed preparation of the environmental bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae promotes stress resilience in mice by Reber et al. in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (http://www.pnas.org/content/113/22/E3130)*
A Shot against Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Tweaking the gut microbiome may hold promise for fighting stress, anxiety by Sandra Lamb in Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-shot-against-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/)
Fiber-Famished Gut Microbes Linked to Poor Health: While probiotics receive more attention, key fibers remain the workhorses in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome by Katherine Harmon Courage in Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fiber-famished-gut-microbes-linked-to-poor-health1/)
Bizarre Science
How Gut Bacteria Tell Their Hosts What to Eat: By suppressing or increasing cravings, microbes help the brain decide what foods the body “needs” by Knvul Sheikh in Scientific American (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-tell-their-hosts-what-to-eat/)
Your Gut Bacteria Want You to Eat a Cupcake by Julie Beck in The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/your-gut-bacteria-want-you-to-eat-a-cupcake/378702/)
Tiny gut organisms may influence food cravings and what our bodies do with fat by Jasenka Zubcevic and Christopher Martyniuk in The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/tiny-gut-organisms-may-influence-food-cravings-and-what-our-bodies-do-with-fatlooking-at-microbiota-for-ways-to-keep-weight-down–and-fight-depression/2017/08/11/676a1138-6681-11e7-a1d7-9a32c91c6f40_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f0fa980c7bb1)
Filippo Caremoli (postdoc) and Catia Sternini (PI) study about taste receptors in gut and microbes may be signalling through these receptors to influence gastrointestinal function
(https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107732)* Vegezzi, G. et al. PLOS ONE
(https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147468)* Latorre, R. et al. PLOS ONE
The Classics
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong (book)
* indicates a research study that was published in a scientific journal so it may be limited access