If I were in charge of a new research project, and it were going to be a project that involved the human microbiome, I’d want to focus on how changing the microbial system in our bodies would influence obesity. I’d be interested in knowing what fecal transplants can do, but more importantly, how to maintain a healthy microbiome that allows for easier weight loss. In addition to transplants, simply culturing the organisms associated with weight loss can open many avenues to treatment, from using them in probiotic food to pills.
Writing Prompt #14
The list of diseases I know to be at least correlated with microbes has expanded since the start of this course; they include: Gastric ulcers, cancer, IBS, obesity, metabolic dysfunction such as diabetes, autoimmune disease, and then there is the emerging field of study involving microbes and mental health. What I learned in this course is mainly how these different diseases could be caused by microbes, rather than the fact that these microbes were associated with the diseases in the first place.
In comparison to my first writing prompt, it seems that the main addition to my knowledge of microbes and human health involved gastric diseases associated with H. Pylori. I did not know that H. Pylori has been heavily associated with cancer before I took this class.