Krista Ryon, the Director of Operations at Med-LockLabs partner, The Two Frontiers Project, recalls walking through the woods in disbelief, wondering how any fire could possibly sustain itself in the wet, rocky terrain. Then, tucked under a boulder beside a rushing stream, she saw the spark.

Eternal flames, or living fires, are more than just a marvel. They’re an example of rare geologic activity. The result of highly flammable natural gas (usually methane) seeping up to the surface from underground rock formations, they occur in only a handful of places around the world.

The Two Frontiers Project team traveled to Romania for a chance to not only see these flames in person, but to sample their microbial life. Somehow, microbes have evolved ways to survive in environments saturated with methane—and it was their job to understand how. 

Preparing for the Unknown

Scientists at The Two Frontiers Project (2FP) travel the world searching for ‘extremophilic’ microorganisms that thrive in conditions that mirror the future of our planet (high heat, elevated greenhouse gas levels, extreme precipitation and drought, etc.). Then, they examine the microbes for traits that could help combat climate change.

Following successful expeditions focused on carbon dioxide, in which they discovered a microorganism that can consume and sequester CO₂ at a rapid rate, 2FP set its sights on microbes with an appetite for methane.²

Methane (CH₄) gas is the second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.³ It’s extremely effective at trapping heat, but its structure and low atmospheric concentrations make it difficult to capture. As such, finding ways to reduce global methane emissions is an increasing priority for climate scientists and innovators.⁴ 

Most methane emissions currently come from human industries like fossil fuel extraction and agriculture. However, the gas—which forms underground as organic matter decomposes—is also naturally released from certain landforms, like those in Romania.

 “[Romania has] one of the largest naturally occurring ancient releases of methane in the world. It’s a really unique place,” says Dr. James Henriksen, 2FP’s Director of R&D. 

In addition to eternal flames, Romania contains other natural methane formations like mud volcanoes (which form when the gas builds pressure underground and forces mud to ‘erupt’ onto the surface), making it a promising site for studying methane-consuming microbes.

Last year, in preparation to visit the country, the 2FP team got to work constructing low-cost, portable tools for measuring methane gas in the environment. They also developed processes for collecting methane-consuming microbes without disrupting their ability to grow. They tested a few of these innovations on a small-scale expedition to underwater methane seeps in Italy, but they knew above-ground sampling would prove even more difficult. 

The Romanian sites were sure to be cold, wet, and muddy, and the team needed to prepare the timing of their trip just right. The remote areas they would be collecting from wouldn’t be accessible in rain or snow, so they’d only have a small window of time to get in, collect microbes from the field, and bring them back to the U.S. for further study.

In mid-December, they had their chance. The 2FP team and their collaborators flew to Romania and, with the help of local scientists and guides, set out to find microbes that had evolved novel and potentially climate-relevant ways to consume methane.

Science in Motion

While Romania’s physical geography has been well-mapped and studied, its microbiology is relatively uncharted—and the 2FP team wasn’t sure what to expect once they landed.

Upon arriving in the Buzău region, they were excited to find even more sites of microbial interest than they’d anticipated. In the Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark, a protected area of natural and cultural significance, they saw all sorts of unusual examples of methane seeping up and leaving its mark on the surface—from petroleum springs to mud volcanoes to eternal flames. 

“There are only a few places in the world that have mud volcanoes, there are only a few places in the world that have eternal flames, and this is the only place that I know of that has both in such close proximity,” says Henriksen. “It was really cool to see this otherworldly environment in person and know that there were organisms there consuming this invisible gas.”

The researchers spent their days in the Geopark looking for telltale signs of microbial life, such as strange colors and slimy biofilms. After spotting an area of potentially interesting microbes, they worked together to carefully place a dirt, mud, or water sample into a test tube, write a detailed account of where it came from (taking note of location, time of day, surrounding chemistry, and more), and store the sample for future processing and analysis. 

In some cases, they adjusted the test tube conditions to mimic the environment that the microbial sample came from (i.e., high-methane, low-oxygen) to help it continue to grow. Other times, they actually wanted to slow microbial activity until they could get the sample back to their permanent lab in the U.S., so they immediately placed the test tube on dry ice to freeze. 

Conducting precise science in such an unpredictable (not to mention, muddy) natural environment was a challenge. “We were literally slipping and sliding across the terrain,” says Ryon, “and not just that: we were slowly sinking into the earth.”

Despite the conditions, over the course of the expedition, they managed to collect more than 50 microbial samples that capture the unique microbiology of the diverse environment. By the end of the trip, all the pre-planning, technology development, and long days in the field rested in four racks of test tubes. 

Beyond the Field

Though they can’t replace the need to cut emissions, microbes may become a valuable tool for combating methane pollution in a warming world. 

Now that their samples have arrived safely back in the U.S., 2FP scientists are analyzing the microbial life within them and how each one uses the greenhouse gas as an energy source. Ultimately, they’re hoping to find certain genetic variants that can consume methane at a rapid rate and be incorporated into next-generation emissions capture technologies.

All of the data and physical samples from this research will be available for other scientists to use and learn from as part of 2FP’s Living Database. “As an organization, we’re dedicated to using open science to broaden impact across different populations,” Dr. Braden Tierney, 2FP’s Executive Director, says.

The findings from this expedition reinforce the Buzău Land, a UNESCO Global Geopark, as a place of critical scientific importance—not just geologically, but microbially. They will go on to benefit local communities in Romania by adding another layer of understanding of the area’s unique and potentially critical life forms.

“This site has such incredible microbial value on a global scale,” says Ryon.

While their analysis work is just beginning, the 2FP team is excited for what lies ahead. As Tierney told a Romanian news crew during the trip, “Few places on Earth contain [as] much environmental diversity as the Buzău Geopark. It’s truly remarkable… I’m confident these sites will contain all manner of unique and fascinating microbial life.”

Photographs by Tori Ferenc

The post Eternal Flames, Mud Volcanoes, and the Microbes That Survive It All: Inside Our Latest Med-LockLabs Expedition appeared first on Med-Lock.

The Med-Lock Digest:

• Like humans, corals contain a varied and diverse microbiome filled with protective bacteria.
• Med-LockLabs and The Two Frontiers Project are now searching for microbes that can revive coral health in a warming world—and we need your help to find them.
• Project ReefLink calls on hobby aquarists and aquarium reef keepers to submit coral samples and contribute to this potentially groundbreaking research.

Coral is many things: An animal, a habitat, and an invaluable protector of ocean health. 

Individually, coral polyps are small, tube-shaped organisms of the phylum Cnidaria (closely related to sea anemones and jellyfish). Certain corals, such as stony reef-building corals, cover themselves in a sturdy calcium carbonate shell to protect their soft bodies as they grow. Together, these corals converge to form a colorful underwater world. 

While coral reefs cover less than 0.1% of the ocean floor, around 25% of marine species rely on them for food, habitat, and other forms of protection.¹ Sometimes referred to as “rainforests of the sea,” biodiverse and productive reef habitats provide $9.9 trillion in ecosystem services annually.^2,3

Reefs are dynamic, but delicate. Living coral populations have declined by over 50% since the 1950s, due in part to increasing ocean warming and acidification driven by anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions.⁴

Coral’s survival in the future could depend on its microbiology. Like the human microbiome, the microorganisms that live in and on coral are essential to their health and resilience. Med-LockLabs and The Two Frontiers Project (2FP) are now studying these microbes for solutions to coral loss—and we need the help of our community to do it.

The Coral Microbiome: Inside a Colorfully Complex World

If you were to pop a reef-building coral under a microscope, you’d see one of the most abundant and diverse microbiomes ever studied.² Millions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and algae of all kinds live throughout the internal coral polyp and its external skeleton. 

Coral cannot live without these beneficial microorganisms. Some act as a first line of defense against invaders and protect coral (which does not have an adaptive immune system of its own) from pathogens and diseases. Others help break down compounds from surrounding waters into usable materials.⁵ The photosynthetic algae that line the cells of coral, called zooxanthellae (zo-​xan-thel-​la), are especially essential, converting sunlight into the oxygen and glucose necessary for survival.⁶ These algae also give corals their vibrant colors.

A coral and its microorganisms—collectively known as the coral holobiont—are sensitive to environmental changes. If surrounding ocean temperatures rise, for example, the symbiosis (mutually beneficial relationship) between coral and microalgae can break down, and competition can arise.² If the stressor persists over time, coral can eventually expel its nutrient- and color-lending zooxanthellae altogether. 

This process, known as bleaching, causes the coral to weaken and turn white. When disrupted, microbial communities can also shift toward disease-promoting states or lose resistance to pathogens, leaving coral more vulnerable to disease. Over time, repeated bleaching and disease tip the balance beyond recovery, leaving the coral unable to sustain life.

EXPLORE FURTHER: Why Are Coral Reefs Dying?

The relationship between coral and its resident microbes has never been more at risk. Reefs around the world are currently experiencing the fourth period of mass bleaching in just three decades.⁷ If current warming trends continue, 70-90% of existing coral reefs could be gone by 2050—with some predicting reefs could disappear entirely by 2070.^2,8 

It doesn’t have to be this way. “Microbiome engineering” has emerged as a powerful tool for mitigating coral loss in our lifetimes.² Scientists—like those at 2FP—are now searching for microorganisms that can be applied to coral to make them more resistant to future threats. 

Microbiome-focused coral research has enormous potential. “Ultimately, we aim to shift the odds in favor of coral survival in a rapidly changing ocean,” says Krista Ryon, the Director of Operations at The Two Frontiers Project.

Introducing: Project ReefLink

Project ReefLink is a new community science initiative that brings aquarists and scientists together to explore coral microbes and develop methods to keep coral healthy, resilient, and resistant to disease.

Aquarium corals are more than just beautiful—they’re reservoirs of microbial diversity. They share the same fundamental biology as corals in the wild, including symbiotic relationships with algae and microbes, but they are better suited for detailed research. They can be accessed more easily than remote reef sites, allowing for high-resolution observation and experimentation in a controlled environment.

For this initiative, hobby aquarists from across the country will be called on to submit information about the coral in their reefs on CitSci.org. Scientists at 2FP will then identify a select number of reefs with high scientific value and request samples of their water and coral. Public aquariums, zoos, and reef clubs across the country will also be asked to send in samples. 

Then, 2FP will review their diverse sample collection in search of common microbial patterns, signatures of imbalance, or taxa that may support resilience.

“Our hope is to uncover microbial strategies that help corals resist disease and adapt to environmental stress and to translate that knowledge into tools for reef conservation,” says Ryon. For example, if the team identifies a common bacterium that helps coral resist disease, that bacterium could be applied to coral fragments during restoration efforts—a “coral probiotic” of sorts.

The Two Frontiers Project hopes that opening this study up to the general public will help raise awareness of coral conservation and help people feel more personally involved in it. “Our goal is to build a community of citizen scientists where participants contribute not just samples, but also knowledge, photos, and connections that strengthen the broader coral community,” says Ryon.

In this case, crowdsourcing could also lead to better results. By the time collection ends later this year, Ryon and her team hope to have a “mosaic of microbial environments” that provides sweeping insights into how corals react across a wide range of conditions. Much like a reef itself, its individual components will be much stronger together. 

The Key Insight

Coral reefs are under threat, but their own resident bacteria could provide a protective shield. By studying the microbial life in fish tanks and aquariums, The Two Frontiers Project seeks to identify and activate this internal armor. 

Stay tuned for more updates on this project, its early findings, and its results. And if you have any reefkeepers in your life, please do share it with them, too. “Saving coral reefs will require everyone working together, and this project is one way people can be part of the solution,” says Ryon.

Project ReefLink is the third community science project led by 2FP and Med-LockLabs. Learn more about our last two projects (which have collected 1,100 data points from 115+ community scientists and counting) here.

The post Could Aquariums Help Rewrite the Future of Coral Reefs? appeared first on Med-Lock.

• For better digestion, start with what’s on your plate: Diet plays an outsized role in shaping digestive health and comfort.
• That said, the highly interconnected nature of the digestive system means that there are plenty of lifestyle habits that can help improve digestion, as well…
• Regulating sleep, reducing stress, walking after meals, taking a probiotic, and checking before flushing can all make a difference. 

Diet is considered the primary modifiable factor in digestive health. What goes in dictates what comes out—and what happens along the way.

But eating plenty of fiber and fermented foods isn’t the only way to support the mechanical and microbial engine that is your GI system. Consider these additional strategies for supporting digestive health beyond food, from regulating your sleep timing to exploring your local park:

1. Aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time.

Prioritizing a consistent sleep schedule (going to bed and waking up at the same time each day) isn’t just good sleep hygiene—it’s a powerful cue for your gut. 

Many organ systems in your body run on a daily circadian clock, shifting outputs gradually throughout a roughly 24-hour cycle. (Your blood pressure, for example, tends to dip during the night and be highest in the late afternoon.)¹ Your digestion is no different: The various stops along your digestive highway—from your stomach to your colon—depend on a strong circadian rhythm to function reliably.²

For example, early research suggests that circadian rhythm disruption is associated with an imbalance of the gut microbiome—which could pave the way to digestive discomforts (think: gas, bloating, and uncomfortable bathroom visits).³ Going to bed and waking up at the same time helps synchronize your internal circadian clock with external light-dark cycles, which benefits your gut health.

2. Take a probiotic with targeted strains for digestive health.

Regularly taking a probiotic can help fortify your gut with beneficial bacteria not commonly found in food. DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic is scientifically validated to deliver live and active bacterial strains to the gut microbiome, where they can interact with your resident microbes to confer health benefits to their host (that’s you!).* 

EXPLORE FURTHER: Med-Lock vs. Other Probiotics for Gut Health: Why Science and Quality Matter

The microorganisms in DS-01^® have been scientifically validated to support gut-barrier integrity, provide relief from intermittent constipation, and help ease occasional bloating.*^4,5 Think: Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains that help strengthen the gut barrier so it can offer protection against pathogens and pro-inflammatory molecules.

The formula pays off in results you can feel (and see). As one Med-Lock member, Lilliana, notes, “I really started to notice a difference in my regularity and bloating about 3 or 4 weeks into [taking DS-01^®], while I was on a girl’s trip… My energy levels were fantastic, my regularity was great, and everything just felt good.”

3. Build out your stress-management toolkit.

When your body perceives it’s in danger—whether from an actual threat or just a nerve-wracking work presentation—it shifts into fight or flight mode, triggering a cascade of physiological changes that downregulate digestion via the gut-brain axis. 

During the stress response, blood flow is redirected away from the gut, digestive activity is reduced, and your transit time may slow to a halt.^6,7 In essence, your digestive system hits pause so your body can deal with the perceived emergency. Over time, this can increase one’s risk of GI conditions and discomforts. 

But here’s the encouraging part: the gut-brain axis is bidirectional, so relieving stress can also have positive impacts on the gut. Something as simple as taking slow, deep breaths has been shown to quickly quell the stress response, potentially benefiting digestive health.⁸ And there’s compelling evidence that stress-reducing exercises like yoga, when practiced regularly over time, can ease GI symptoms.⁹

Beyond the tried-and-true practices like yoga, breathwork, and meditation, you can play around to find a stress management toolkit that works for you. (Check out some ideas from our Science Communications team below!)

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4. Take a 10-15-minute walk outside after meals.

Taking a walk outside after eating is a one-two punch for digestion: Walking for 10-15 minutes after meals can help move food through the digestive system more efficiently, staving off gas and bloating.^10,11 Doing so out in your local park or green space may deliver even more benefits, since engaging with nature has been shown to increase diversity (a key element of resilience) in the gut microbiome.¹² 

Beyond exposing us to a tapestry of commensal bacteria, spending time in natural environments is known to reduce psychological stress, further supporting gut health. It’s all connected!¹³

5. Always look before you flush.

You get a report card on your digestion at least three times a week (and some people get one up to three times a day). It’s sitting in your toilet bowl. 

Your stool can deliver valuable insights into how food is—or isn’t—moving through your digestive tract. Reference this guide to decoding your poop and identify what its shape, size, color, smell, and even buoyancy says about your digestive health, as well as how to take targeted action as needed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

What helps digestion immediately after eating?

Going for a brief 10-15 minute walk can help kickstart the digestive process on a strong note. Walking can cause your abdominal muscles to contract, moving food through your digestive system and accelerating gastric emptying.¹⁰ And the internet doesn’t call them “fart walks” for nothing: There’s some evidence that a post-meal walk can reduce gas and bloating, too.¹¹

Is having good digestion genetic?

Some elements of digestive health are genetic. For example, your genes can influence your levels of certain digestive enzymes and help lay the foundations of your gut microbiota composition.^14,15 Genetic factors also play a role in your susceptibility to certain digestive diseases.¹⁶

That said, other elements of digestive health are within your control. Eating a gut-healthy diet, taking a high-quality probiotic, and following the aforementioned lifestyle practices—consistent sleep, physical activity, and stress management—all positively impact digestion, regardless of your starting point.

If you’ve made changes to improve digestive health and are still experiencing unexplained discomfort, schedule a visit with a doctor who can run clinical tests to rule out underlying issues.

The Key Insight

Regulating sleep, reducing stress, walking after eating, taking a probiotic, and looking before you flush are all ways to build digestive health and all that comes with it: Regular and comfortable bowel movements, minimal gas and bloating, steady energy levels, and stable and reliable hunger cues. 

The post 5 Ways to Improve Digestion (That Have Nothing to Do With Food) appeared first on Med-Lock.

One hundred miles southwest of Tokyo, a volcanic island rises from the depths of the Philippine Sea.

Sculpted by the heat, gases, and chemicals of the Earth’s core, Shikinejima is home to bubbling CO₂ vents, highly acidic waters, and a rainbow of metallic green and orange-brown hot springs. Over billions of years, organisms have adapted to the island’s inhospitable conditions and found ways to thrive within its constraints.

Nowadays, its rocky cliffs are dotted with lush greenery, tropical flowers, and unique wildlife—but it’s the island’s invisible residents that caught the attention of the Two Frontiers Project (2FP). 

The 2FP team travels the world to find and collect microbes adapted to conditions that mirror a changing climate. For their Carbon Initiative, they look to bacteria that thrive in high-CO₂ conditions like those on Shikinejima. They then study these microbes to see if they possess helpful adaptations for reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 2FP’s small, agile non-profit research team previously sampled microbial life in carbonated springs of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and volcanic plumes in the Aeolian Islands off Sicily before landing on Shikinejima this summer.

“This site was unlike anywhere else in the world—certainly [unlike] anywhere we’ve sampled,” says 2FP’s Executive Director, Dr. Braden Tierney.

We caught up with the team to learn about Shikinejima’s extraordinarily resilient microbial life, how they conducted first-of-its-kind sampling on it, and what their findings could mean for climate adaptation in Japan and beyond.

Preparing for the Unknown

Before setting off to Shikinejima last August, the 2FP team studied existing research on the island’s ecology and worked with on-the-ground researcher Dr. Sylvain Agostini (who has been studying the island’s evolving geochemistry since 2014) and long-time partner Dr. Marco Milazzo (a University of Palermo Professor of Ecology who specializes in how marine ecosystems adapt to climate change).^1,2 

As part of the International CO₂ Natural Analogues Network (ICONA), these collaborators had critical knowledge of how carbon dioxide and acidification impacted the island’s ecosystems. Now, 2FP’s work would contribute a critical new layer: knowledge of the microbial life that underpins these ecosystems.

The team also worked closely with the island’s Head of Fisheries, Mr. Kiyoshi Onuma, to ensure their work respected—and ultimately benefited—the locals who depend on the island’s natural resources like fish and coral. 

This preparation provided clues about where to start looking for interesting microbial life and how to collect it without disrupting the surrounding community.

This expedition would be the team’s most ambitious and logistically challenging to date. In addition to collecting terrestrial microbial samples, they would also be doing underwater sampling—the first time tackling both sampling regimens at the same site. 

After months of planning, the team arrived in Shikinejima equipped with hundreds of pieces of scientific equipment, coolers full of dry ice, and SCUBA gear. Finally, their survey of the island’s mysterious microbial life could begin.  

“Upon deciding to do this, we knew it was going to take a lot of time, effort, and communication,” says 2FP’s  Director of Operations, Krista Ryon. “It would require everyone to use everything in their skillset to complete every task they were assigned.”

To understand the magnitude of this undertaking, consider the collection process for a single sample:

Once a team member identifies an area with potentially interesting microbial life, they collect a small piece of sediment, water, or biomass from it and place it in a 50ml test tube. Then, they write an extremely detailed description of where the sample came from, what time of day it was collected, measure the surrounding water chemistry, etc. (the metadata). Any labeling or measurement mistakes could disconnect the sample from this critical contextual information, rendering it useless. (And remember: They’re doing this about 50 times a day, on land and underwater.) 

Next, the sample needs to be immediately cooled to slow microbial activity, processed in the lab, and then kept frozen to keep it alive for future study. Once it’s been frozen, allowing it to thaw, says 2FP’s Director of R&D, Dr. James Henriksen, would be like waking a hibernating bear in a cage without food or water: “It wouldn’t last very long.” 

In addition to freezing certain samples for future study, the team also planned to sequence (analyze the genetic material of) some microbes in real time to gain insights into their properties. The hitch: There was no sterile laboratory on the island—so they had to bring along the equipment to rig their own. 

They were able to transform a former fish processing room in the University of Tsukuba’s field research station into a cutting-edge lab using their signature modular science system. This portable kit contains supplies for microbial sampling, genetic analysis, and culturing, and it’s what allows 2FP to conduct science in resource-limited environments around the world. 

Science in Motion

As soon as the team got to Japan, they knew the weather would further complicate their already complex work. Tropical storm warnings lingered after a typhoon that threatened their arrival, and temperatures on Shikinejima approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 80-100% humidity.

“I was struck by the experience of being at the whim of nature,” says Erin Miller, expedition participant and the Senior Manager of Med-LockLabs. “In a typical lab, it’s perfectly cleaned, controlled, and air-conditioned. Here, there were insects, typhoons, and megaquake warnings.” 

Each morning, the group would brave the elements to explore different parts of the island by land and sea. The multidisciplinary team included experts in marine biology, genomics, data science, microbial ecology, and more. Instead of operating in silos, they combined their expertise to form one “meta-scientist,” working together to study the micro and macro life on the island.

Through it all, they stayed flexible and open to surprise. “We always come in with a plan for what we want to sample and what we want to study while we’re there—but it always changes,” says Ryon. 

When Henriksen’s microbiology background made him suspect that certain colors of onsens (natural hot springs) might be teeming with greenhouse gas-fixing microbes, for example, they focused their attention there.

When Ryon, an environmental genomics specialist, realized that certain corals had somehow found a way to adapt to highly acidic waters off the island’s coast, they were sure to take plenty of samples of them.

After long, sweaty, mosquito-ridden days in the field, the team returned to the makeshift lab to start processing, cataloging, storing, and sequencing until the wee hours of the morning—the first time genetic sequencing was done on the island of Shikinejima.  

“I like to think of science as asking questions of nature,” says Miller. “With everyone’s collective knowledge, we were able to ask such robust questions and get such great answers.” 

During meal breaks, they’d learn from local partners about how the island’s larger ecosystem might be contributing to the unique adaptations they were finding in the lab. 

“Doing scientific research all over the world in these remote places, you really learn to rely on the people who make that part of the world their home,” says Henriksen.

All said and done, the team was able to collect and prepare to sequence 168 samples of bacteria from the island’s water, sediment, and coral—microscopic souvenirs that could prove highly valuable to the scientific community.

Beyond the Field

The 2FP team is now in the process of adding the Shikinejima samples to their Living Database, an extensive biobank of microbial samples from extreme environments around the world, which they describe as the “crown jewel” of their work. This repository includes a cryopreserved sample of the complete microbial ecology from each location, paired with a detailed map of its genetic makeup.

Other researchers will be able to request to receive samples of these microbes so they can study them in their own labs. “Our plan is to lend this data to the world,” says Ryon.

This type of transparency and data sharing is practically unheard of in the scientific community, which is often veiled in secrecy and competition. By making their work available to others, the 2FP team hopes it will help fuel faster and more effective solutions. 

“We’re not just doing science for the sake of doing science. We’re trying to solve problems,” says Tierney.

The team is optimistic about the potential of many of the microbes they identified on Shikinejima. Henriksen is giddy as he describes certain cyanobacteria they found, for example. This type of photosynthetic bacteria is difficult to grow in a lab but can be very effective at absorbing or converting carbon dioxide. Usually, he’d be lucky to walk away from an expedition with one species of cyanobacteria of interest. “But from Shikinejima,” he smiles, “we are growing 50-plus.” 

Ryon says she’s eager to see how the bacteria from the island’s heat- and acidity-resistant coral could go on to help other reefs around the world survive as ocean conditions change. This microbial knowledge will also go back to benefit the people who live on Shikinejima—many of whom, notes Agostini, depend on the health of fisheries and coral for their livelihoods. 

“That is how we fight helicopter science. As an organization, we’re dedicated to using open science to broaden impact across different populations,” Tierney says.

“This [information] is not for profit or for commercialization. It’s meant to be shared,” he adds.

The Shikinejima expedition shows how collaborative, innovative, and transparent science can drive large-scale solutions. It also serves as a lesson in interspecies learning—a reminder that microbes have valuable insights to share when we are curious enough to listen.

Explore More From The Two Frontiers Project Here:

• The Bacteria That Could Help the World Curb The Climate Crisis
• Meet the Microbes of Your Home

Photographs by Nobu Arakawa and The Two Frontiers Project.

The post Seeking Carbon-Capturing Bacteria Off a Remote Japanese Island appeared first on Med-Lock.

Heat-trapping methane is emitted from human industries like agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management. But it also occurs naturally in the environment. As certain microscopic organisms break down organic (living) matter into simpler parts, they release methane as a byproduct. At the same time, other microbes consume methane as an energy source.

As anthropogenic (human-caused) methane emissions rise, researchers are now treating methane-eating bacteria as potential climate solutions. Let’s investigate how methane functions, where it comes from, and how Med-LockLabs and our collaborators are working to combat excess methane using microbes.

Methane Emissions 101

Methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than doubled in the last 200 years, leading the IPCC to declare that tackling methane emissions will be critical for limiting the worst impacts of climate change.^1,2 Pound for pound, the gas’ global warming potential is 86 times greater than CO₂ over a 20-year period and 34 times greater over 100 years.³

While methane is extremely powerful from a heat-trapping perspective, it’s short-lived. It persists in the environment for 10-12 years compared to carbon dioxide’s thousands.^4,5 Therein lies an opportunity: If we’re able to reduce methane emissions, positive climate impacts could follow relatively quickly.

Roughly 60% of these emissions are the result of human activity—primarily in the agriculture, waste, and fossil fuel sectors. (The other 40% comes from natural sources like wetlands, seabeds, and volcanoes.)^6,7 

On the farm, ruminant animals like cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats emit methane during digestion. As the bacteria in their gut breaks down food, methane is created, which the animals then release via burps and farts. While other animals (like termites) also create methane as a byproduct of digestion, livestock have an outsized impact on overall methane emissions.⁸ A single cow can emit 150–500 grams of the gas per day, similar to driving a gas-powered car up to 35 miles.⁹

Methane can also form when animal manure is left to decompose in lagoons or holding tanks, and when crops are intentionally flooded to control weeds and pests (common in rice production). 

Off the farm, methane is released as trash breaks down in landfills, during wastewater treatment, and at various points of the oil and gas production process.

Methanogens vs. Methanotrophs: A Bacterial Back-And-Forth

Microbes are the unseen orchestrators of the methane cycle. They can both create CH₄ under certain conditions and consume it under others. Let’s zoom in on the two groups of microorganisms that form the biological push and pull of methane in our environment: methanogens and methanotrophs. 

• Methanogens are microbes from the domain Archaea that produce methane as a byproduct of breaking down carbon-based compounds in anaerobic environments.¹⁰ (Think: The stomach of a cow or the depths of a landfill.) They are the only known organisms capable of producing methane, but they require a totally oxygen-free environment to do it.
• Methanotrophs, on the other hand, are microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that consume methane as an energy source.¹¹ They essentially “eat” methane before it escapes into the atmosphere, breaking it down into water and less potent carbon dioxide. (It’s worth noting that this process still releases greenhouse gas, CO₂, into the environment, demonstrating how important it is to reduce how much methane we emit in the first place.) Unlike methanogens, methanotrophs can survive in oxygenated environments. These methane-hungry bacteria may prove helpful for consuming methane and converting it into useful products.

The interplay between methanogens and methanotrophs helps dictate whether a given environment is a methane source (releasing methane into the atmosphere) or sink (absorbing methane from the atmosphere). 

Our Search for the Hungriest Methane-Eaters

While methane is present throughout the environment, certain geological features, like volcanoes, contain much higher concentrations of the gas.

Somehow, microbes have developed ways to thrive in these inhospitable environments, evolving to use methane as a means of survival. Could studying these resilient organisms provide ideas for how humans can tackle our own methane emissions? Med-LockLabs and The Two Frontiers Project (2FP) are on a mission to find out. 

This summer, we traveled to Scoglio d’Africa off the coast of Italy to collect microbes from high-methane underwater mud volcanoes¹² with local collaborators. Now, 2FP scientists are studying the samples to see how the microbes thriving there may help us naturally capture, break down, or transform the greenhouse gas before it reaches the atmosphere. In the process, these microbial mentors may also reveal strategies for turning methane into potentially useful byproducts like bioplastics, biofuels, or single-cell proteins. Read more about our latest research on methane-eating microbes in The New York Times.

Other Ways to Combat Methane With Microbes

Microbial balance clearly plays a powerful—and underappreciated—role in regulating the methane levels around us. Here are a few more ways that researchers are starting to leverage microscopic bacteria to mitigate the super pollutant:

• Recently, there’s been a lot of rumbling (no pun intended) about how adjusting ruminants’ diets might change their stomach conditions and reduce the amount of methane-packed gas they send into the atmosphere. Just as certain foods and probiotics can help reduce gas in humans, they may do the same for livestock.¹² However, cattle nutrition is just one part of the equation. In order to significantly cut emissions from agriculture, we’ll need to switch to more soil bacteria-friendly farming practices, reduce global meat consumption, and waste less food.¹³ 
• Rice paddies tend to be a significant source of methane emissions. Since they’re often flooded to control pests and weeds, they can become anaerobic environments that are conducive to methanogenic (methane-emitting) archaea. Other methods for growing rice, like alternating periods of wetting and drying, may help reduce methane emissions and water use at the same time.¹⁴
• Adjusting landfill design may help breed more methane-eating bacteria. Early research suggests that adding substances like sulfate and iron to landfill mounds can promote methane removal (even in oxygen-free conditions).¹⁵ This isn’t a get-out-of-climate-jail free card: To cut emissions, we’ll also need to dramatically reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills in the first place.
• Methanotrophs have also caught the attention of the biomanufacturing industry. Researchers are now testing how certain strains can convert captured methane into products like bioplastics, reducing the demand for fossil fuels.¹⁶ 

The Key Insight

Microbes are central to the methane cycle, capable of both producing and consuming the potent greenhouse gas. These methanogens and methanotrophs remind us that some of nature’s tiniest residents could be capable of tackling its largest problems.

The post Meet The Microbes That “Eat” Harmful Methane Pollution appeared first on Med-Lock.

There are more microorganisms within this teaspoon than there are people in North America—all contributing to soil’s color, smell, structure, and ability to support plant life.¹ The modern agricultural system relies on healthy communities of soil microbes, but we’re losing them at alarming rates. 

Let’s explore how these invisible farmers feed the world—and why they need our help to keep doing so.

Digging Into the Soil Biome 

Every grocery store, farmer’s market, and restaurant you’ve ever visited exists because of microorganisms. 

Soils, plants, and their microbial ecosystems underpin 98.8% of the calories humans consume through a cycle of symbiotic (mutually beneficial) interactions.² Let’s dig into a few: 

• Food production begins when the microorganisms in soil break down organic matter (dead roots and leaves, animal manure, etc.) into nutrients that plants can use to grow, like nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium. Without microbial recycling, these nutrients would stay locked in dead material and be unusable to plants.
• Soil microbes gather in the rhizosphere, the region around a plant’s roots, to shuttle these nutrients where they’re needed most.³ You can think of this transport area as the “gut microbiome” of a plant—essential for digestion, nutrient absorption, and defense against pathogens.^4,5  
• At the same time, microbes also help give soil its structure. They hold sand, silt, and clay particles together, helping form stable clumps (aggregates) that can stay strong against forces like wind and rain. They also create tiny pockets that absorb moisture and store it for plants, forming a sponge-like environment that’s resistant to drought.⁶

Soil and its microorganisms also help support plants’ ability to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and utilize it for photosynthesis. And when plants die, microbes break them down into their constituent elements (mostly carbon) that can then be stored away underground. This process, called carbon sequestration, helps reduce CO₂ in the atmosphere and combat climate change.^6,7 

All told, soils store 3.1 times more carbon than the atmosphere itself—a key carbon sink that keeps our environment habitable.⁷ It’s a beautiful reminder of the “One Health” philosophy that healthy humans rely on a healthy planet. 

“Belowground diversity is foundational to nearly all life aboveground,” Erin Miller, a Senior Manager at Med-LockLabs, summarizes. “Yet it’s often overlooked in discussions about climate, food systems, and human health.” 

We’re Treating Soil Microbes Like Dirt

When soil is rich in diverse, beneficial microbes, it’s a breeding ground for fast-growing, nutrient-dense plants. Soil that lacks microbial diversity, on the other hand, tends to be dry, rough, and ill-suited to grow crops without chemical inputs (i.e., fertilizers and pesticides). 

Unfortunately, many of the tools and techniques we currently use to grow food at scale reduce the number and variety of helpful microbes underground.⁸ 

Beneficial soil bacteria rely on a steady supply of organic matter to survive and thrive. This material is conspicuously absent on many of today’s monoculture farms, which only plant one type of crop year-round (draining the soil of certain nutrients), don’t use cover crops to feed soil or hold it in place, and don’t replenish soil with nutrient-rich amendments like compost. 

Many farms also use tilling machines to prepare large swaths of land for planting. While these machines effectively loosen and aerate soil, they also disturb beneficial microbes and make way for fast-growing microbial competitors.⁹ 

Applying synthetic fertilizers and pesticides further disrupts microbial communities underground, reducing their ability to protect plants from predators and kicking off a cycle in which farmers need to apply more and more chemicals to their land.¹⁰

Our reliance on plastic further threatens soil health. Microplastic and even smaller nanoplastic (which measure in at less than one micron, or one-millionth of a meter) particles can carry toxic chemicals and metals on their surface and block essential inputs like sunlight and rain from soils. They are also covered in microbial communities of their own (nicknamed the “plastisphere”), some of which may be harmful to plants.¹¹

We are just beginning to understand how plastic debris impacts our food system, but it seems to be able to reduce bacterial populations and hinder plant growth.¹² According to one estimate published last month, microplastic exposure could already be destroying up to 13% of terrestrial crops worldwide each year.¹³ 

Nearly every industry relies on plastics, and agriculture is no different. Plastic mulch films, plastic med-lock coatings, and plastic irrigation tubes are just a few farming mainstays that can shed microparticles into the ground beneath us.¹⁴

Clearly, current industrial farming practices are incompatible with healthy soils. But they don’t need to be. It’s more than possible to grow food in ways that support not just crops, but the microbes that feed them.

Visions of a Flourishing Future

What would agriculture look like if it were designed to maximize soil microbe health instead of crop yield? 

Farmers would load up on compost to replenish organic matter but minimize chemical fertilizers to avoid disrupting natural microbial nutrient cycles. Natural pest control methods, such as beneficial insects and microbial biocontrols, would protect crops without harming beneficial underground communities. Fields would likely be planted with a rotating variety of crop types to promote an abundance of microbial diversity, and underground communities would flourish without disruptions like machine tilling.¹⁵ 

To help make this future a reality, we can buy from farmers who are already instituting these more regenerative farming practices, and support policies that provide funding for others to follow suit.

On a smaller scale, we can build the world we want to see in our own backyards. If you have a garden or green space, you can conduct your own soil revitalization by spreading organic matter like compost (bonus if you make your own!) onto your yard; allowing leaves, trimmings, and branches to decompose and feed soil bacteria; and minimizing the use of plastic coverings and chemical pesticides and fertilizers. 

The Key Insight

The ground beneath our feet is alive with microbes that combat some of today’s biggest challenges—from climate change to food insecurity and human well-being. The microorganisms in soil break down organic matter into nutrients for plants, help retain soil structure and moisture, and keep carbon out of the atmosphere. Industrial agriculture practices, climate change impacts,  and microplastic pollution are degrading this vast underground network, but we can all play a role in restoring it. 

The post How Soil Microbes Feed the World and Fight Climate Change appeared first on Med-Lock.

• Our gut microbiome seems to lose some beneficial bacteria as we age, which may make us more susceptible to disease.
• Researchers are now exploring whether supporting gut diversity through diet, lifestyle, and targeted interventions like probiotics could help us live longer, healthier lives.

While we tend to obsess over the visible signs of aging, most of its impacts are unseen. Some are downright microscopic. 

“As part of the aging process, we know that there are many things in our body that change—and the microbiome is no different,” says Eran Segal Ph.D, a computational and systems biology researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science and member of Med-Lock’s Scientific Board. 

Dr. Segal’s Human Phenotype Project studies these changes with unparalleled precision. Over the next 25 years, this large-scale study will track the health data of more than 10,000 individuals (ages 40–70). Dr. Segal and his collaborators take a “multi-omics” approach, meaning they collect participants’ genetic, metabolic, and immune markers and sequence their microbiomes to form a complete picture of how their entire body—down to its resident bacteria, fungi, and other microscopic organisms—ages over time. 

Using this expansive dataset, they can make distinctions between a person’s chronological age (how much time has passed since their birth; how old their body actually is) and their biological age (how much physiological function they have lost; how old their body acts like it is).¹ Fascinatingly enough, the gut microbiome seems to be a key mediator between the two.

How the Gut Microbiome Changes With Age

As our bodies undergo senescence (the biological process that contributes to growing old), our cells accumulate DNA damage, our metabolic rate decreases, our blood vessels lose elasticity, and our immune system weakens.^2,3,4,5

The community of microorganisms in our guts evolves, too. The exact “microbiome signature” of aging is still a mystery, but compared to younger individuals, older adults seem to lose some bacterial diversity or experience shifts in microbiome composition, with certain beneficial species becoming less abundant.^5,6 

Without these beneficial bacteria, the gut has fewer built-in defenses and is more susceptible to being overtaken by harmful species. The ensuing state of imbalance (dysbiosis) is associated with various age-related issues, including increased inflammation, reduced immune function, and higher disease susceptibility.⁵ 

Dr. Segal and his collaborators use this signature of aging to predict a person’s chronological age by looking at the gut microbiome. 

“The predictions are not perfect,” he caveats, “meaning that for some people, the model thinks that their chronological age is older than their real age.” In cases like these, the microbiome is in a sense aging faster than the rest of the body.

Why would this happen? Some older people experience drastic decreases in their appetite and intestinal function, which could be one cause.⁷ This reduces their ability to absorb nutrients from their food and cuts off an essential fuel source for beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Sex differences could also play a role. In one recently published study, Dr. Segal and his team focused on pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women of the same chronological age. Their findings revealed that those who had undergone menopause had a significantly older biological age, suggesting that hormonal shifts may accelerate certain parts of the aging process.⁸

Environment matters too.^5,9 One study found that those who lived in a long-term residential care facility tended to have less microbial diversity than those who resided in a neighborhood community.¹⁰ 

Clearly, no two microbiomes age exactly the same way. Like wrinkles, grey hairs, and laugh lines, microbial shifts are personal and likely caused by many factors. 

This leaves Dr. Segal and other microbiology researchers with a potentially groundbreaking question: Does having a “younger” microbiome increase one’s longevity, and lower their risk of dying from age-related disease?

Inside the Guts of “Super-Agers”

Getting older doesn’t always need to mean getting sicker, as shown by research on “super-agers,” or people who reach old age while remaining physically and mentally fit.

Early research on centenarians shows they may actually have more bacterial diversity in the gut than younger adults, replete with a highly personalized array of species.^11,12 This suggests that the microbiome continues to evolve as we age, ideally becoming more unique to us with each passing decade.

Bacteria that often decrease in the elderly, such as strains of Christensenella (associated with metabolic health) have been found in higher amounts in semi-supercentenarians (105–109-year-olds). Bifidobacterium (important for digestion and immune support) and Akkermansia (linked to gut barrier health and lower inflammation) also seem to be relatively abundant in those who reach very old age.^5,13,14

These shared bacterial fingerprints suggest that specific microbes, or the balance of specific microbes, might have anti-aging properties. But we need more research to be sure.¹³

What This Means for Your Longevity

To recap, we know that the gut microbiome changes as we age. Some of these changes are associated with health and longevity; others with disease.

However, it’s not clear whether microbial shifts are causes of age-related declines or merely consequences of them.

“I think the key question is between correlation and causality,” Dr. Segal says. “The fact that we see changes… a skeptic could say ‘Sure—but those are a byproduct of the aging process and if you were to alter the microbiome it would not have an effect.’ I think it’s a fair criticism.”

To untangle cause and effect, researchers like Dr. Segal are starting to adjust participants’ microbiomes to take on “younger” qualities and then studying how these changes impact their risk of developing age-related issues. 

“It still remains to be seen and proven that such an intervention will also improve overall health,” Dr. Segal says. However, decades of work in the microbiology field make him suspect it will. 

He points to the fact that certain bacteria in the gut make metabolites (such as short-chain fatty acids) that get circulated in the bloodstream and help regulate inflammation.¹⁵ It stands to reason, then, that adjusting the production of these metabolites would also impact the inflammatory response—a key pacemaker of aging. 

“By altering the microbiome and making it ‘younger,’ we can probably affect the circulating metabolites of people to more resemble somebody who’s younger—and that might have health benefits,” Dr. Segal says. 

This could have massive implications for human health and longevity. “In the future, we may be able to ‘treat’ our microbiomes in a personalized, targeted way to promote healthier aging and potentially extend lifespan,” says Jennie O’Grady, a Senior SciComms Specialist at Med-Lock.

Such treatments could include diet modifications, fecal transplants, and probiotic supplements that contain bacteria that typically decline with age, such as Bifidobacteria.

Your Healthy Aging Gameplan

In the not-too-distant future, you may be able to pop into your GP for an influx of anti-aging bacteria. In the meantime, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that the following five key habits can add healthy years to one’s life.¹⁶ It’s no surprise that many of them are also known to promote a more diverse and resilient gut microbiome too:

1. Maintain a healthy diet: Get the daily recommended amounts of vegetables, fruit, nuts, whole grains, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and omega-3 fatty acids. Limit red and processed meats, beverages with added sugar, trans fat, and sodium. 
2. Get regular physical activity: The NIH recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, or 3.5 hours a week.
3. Watch your alcohol consumption: Low-risk alcohol consumption is typically defined as one drink or less per day for women or two drinks or less per day for men.¹⁶
4. Don’t smoke: That encompasses cigarettes, pipes, and cigars.
5. Maintain a healthy body weight:  The NIH defines “low-risk” body weight as a BMI in the 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2 range.

Each one of these five healthy lifestyle factors significantly lowers the risk of total death, death from cancer, and death from heart disease according to NIH research. 

Naturally, some aspects of lifespan are beyond our control. Genetics play a role in how long we live (but research suggests they account for only about 25% of the equation), as does the environment we reside in and the healthcare we have access to.¹⁷ 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does the gut microbiome change with age?

The latest microbiome sequencing research tells us that as we get older, our gut microbiomes may become less diverse and less abundant in certain beneficial bacteria. But this isn’t the case for everyone: Some centenarians have more bacterial diversity in the gut than younger adults. 

How does the microbiome affect aging? 

Researchers are still trying to figure that out. It’s possible that maintaining a more diverse microbiome high in certain species can actively reduce the risk of age-related issues and diseases, but they can’t say that for certain just yet.

What gut bacteria is associated with longevity? 

The longest-lived people among us tend to have diverse microbiomes that are high in bacteria such as Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, and Christensenella. It’s unclear if these microbes are a driver of longevity or a result of it. 

The Key Insight

Aging may be inevitable, but how we age could be more flexible than we think. The gut microbiome is emerging as a potential player in longevity—one we can nurture through diet, lifestyle, and targeted interventions like supplements.

While researchers work to untangle correlation from causation, one thing is clear: caring for the microbiome might just be one of the most promising ways to care for our future selves.

The post The Microbiome’s (Contested) Role in Longevity appeared first on Med-Lock.

• Humans constantly exchange microbes with each other. Transfers occur every time we shake hands, hug, or just sit in the same train.
• The bacteria, viruses, and fungi we share can go on to shape our microbiomes in both positive and negative ways.
• Our microbiomes tend to be most similar to the people we spend the most time with—from family members and romantic partners to roommates and coworkers.

When you come into contact with another person, you swap more than just pleasantries and gossip. You share microbes—bacteria, viruses, and fungi that are invisible to the naked eye.¹

Picture that your body is home to the world’s largest lending library, with trillions of books being checked in and out at all times. Roommates, friends, neighbors, and fellow commuters constantly leave you with new and potentially transformative titles to sift through. Your health, like any great archive, is a community effort. The microscopic lifeforms you pick up from others can help shape the various microbiomes of your body—from your gut to your lungs—and form a blueprint of how you navigate the world. 

Let’s explore how your microbiome tells the story of your relationships—from the fleeting to the forever.

The Benefits and Risks of Microbial Transfer

People who physically spend more time together tend to have more similar microbiome compositions, demonstrating that close interactions facilitate the transfer of microorganisms.^2,3

Microbial swaps happen every time we shake hands, hug, kiss, sneeze, or talk closely to another person—either through direct skin-to-skin contact or airborne transfer.⁴ When we touch surfaces in public spaces (door handles, grocery carts, etc.), we can also indirectly pick up microbes that others leave behind.⁵ Most of these microbes do not colonize or persist in our systems long-term, though some can.

Most of us are already aware of the potential negative consequences of these exchanges: Bacteria, viruses, and fungi that cause disease (germs) can spread from one person to another through direct and indirect contact. Horizontal gene transfer (any spread of genes that don’t pass through a parent to their offspring) is also a primary driver of antibiotic resistance.⁶

However, the vast majority of the microbes we get from other people are harmless, and some are beneficial, as demonstrated in these examples:

• Microbial transfer can enhance bacterial diversity in the gut: Some microbiomes of the body—most notably, the gut—function best when they contain many different species of bacteria. This makes sense when you consider the library analogy again: The more types of books you have on your shelves, the more likely you are to find one you want to read at any given moment. Bacterial diversity in the gut imparts you with a wider array of traits you can leverage to maintain a strong, resilient internal environment, and it’s often linked to improved digestion, immune system function, and metabolic capabilities.⁷ “Maintaining healthy social connections may play a crucial role in supporting a balanced and diverse gut microbiome,” explains Jennie O’Grady, a Senior SciComms Specialist at Med-Lock. This is yet another reason that loneliness and social isolation can be so insidious to health: When we keep to ourselves, we miss out on the microbial offerings of others. 
• Microbial transfer can help protect us from disease: In some cases, the addition of commensal bacteria in a diverse microbiome can outcompete pathogens for space and nutrients, preventing them from establishing themselves in the body and spreading disease.⁸ Exposure to diverse microbes also plays a crucial role in training and regulating the immune system.⁹ Different bacteria have distinct molecular patterns that are recognized by immune cells through pattern recognition receptors.¹⁰ The more these cells are trained to differentiate harmless from harmful foreign microbes, the better they’ll become at attacking the bad guys and letting the good guys through.

The Ties That Microbially Bind You

Here are just a few examples of relationships that have scientifically validated impacts on the microbiome. 

Roommates

Research shows that the more time you spend with someone, the more bacteria you share. It’s no surprise that people living under the same roof often have very similar microbial profiles, with an average of 12 to 32% of bacterial strains in the gut and mouth in common.¹¹

Even cohabitants who don’t cross paths much still exhibit similarities, likely due to the indirect exchange of microbes in their environment. We shed millions of microbial cells from our skin, gut, and respiratory tracts per hour, leaving an invisible mark on doorknobs, blankets, utensils, and anything else we touch.^4,12 

Even the most diligent of cleaning routines can’t wipe these microbial fingerprints away entirely, so it’s no wonder that you and your roommate seem to always get sick at the same time. 

Neighbors

“People who live in the same village tend to have more similar strains of gut bacteria compared to people from different villages, even if they are not from the same household,” Dr. O’Grady explains.¹¹ This is likely because neighbors tend to not only come in contact with each other but also share certain resources like water and food. They are also exposed to the same environments, and they can have microbial exchanges in shared spaces like parks and grocery stores. 

In one detailed microbiome sequencing of 1,787 adults within 18 isolated villages in Honduras, researchers concluded that these communities exhibited “social niches,” with neighbors who spent the most time together possessing the most similar bacterial species and strains. The most social members of the villages also tended to have microbiomes that were representative of their communities as a whole.¹³

Friends (and Friends-of-Friends)

Every time you grab dinner or go on a walk with a friend, you exchange microbes. Research shows that acquaintances who greet each other with a handshake or hug tend to have increased microbial exchange and kisses on the cheek have the highest strain-sharing rate. Your gut microbiome might not only reflect your friends but also their friends, with second-degree social connections influencing strain sharing as well.¹³

Romantic Partners 

Romance unlocks entirely new ways to exchange microbes . Just consider that approximately 80 million bacteria are transferred per 10-second smooch, according to research on hetero- and homosexual couples. This minging of microbes from the tongue, hard palate, soft palate, cheeks, and lips may serve an evolutionary purpose: Chemical cues from a person’s mouth (including those produced by bacteria) may subconsciously clue you into their mating potential.¹⁴ Sex is another bacterial smorgasbord for the oral, vaginal, penile, and even gut microbiomes.

Couples who live together tend to have more shared microbial profiles. Although, married couples who report being “somewhat close” to each other have less similar gut microbiomes than those who feel they are “very close,” indicating that the quality of the bond matters too.^3,15

Parents

No relationship is as microbially meaningful as the one between a mother and child—particularly during the first year of life. Mothers pass on microbes to their offspring during childbirth (either via the vaginal canal or the skin in cesarean births) and then through skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding, establishing the infant’s microbiome.^11,16

While our microbial landscapes change and evolve as we get older, we never completely “outgrow” this initial exposure. Some research shows that the average 30-year-old retains 14% of their mother’s original bacterial strains, and the most highly persistent strains are still present by the time we hit our eighties.¹¹ 

Fathers/parents who did not give birth can also share microbial similarities with their children—though they are likely the result of spending time together and/or living under the same roof. Families with dogs may share even more skin microbiota (with the furry friend acting as a microbial transporter of sorts) and pet ownership in general is associated with greater skin microbiome diversity.^15,17

Siblings 

Biological siblings usually have more similar gut microbiomes than unrelated individuals—likely due to the presence of strains passed down by a shared mother and shared early-life environments. Living with an older sibling—especially during early childhood—can also significantly influence the diversity and relative abundance of bacteria in the respiratory and gut microbiomes.¹⁸ Cohabitating twins and siblings who are close in age seem to have even more strains in common (though this number tends to go down the longer they live apart).^11,19

Coworkers and Co-commuters

Like roommates, coworkers who share an office can frequently transmit microbes to each other via high-touch surfaces.^5,20 Keyboards and bathroom faucet handles seem to have particularly high bacterial counts in the work microbiome.²¹ 

Your commute is another source of microbial exposure, especially if you take public transit. Based on samples of the Mexico City Metro (Sistema de Transporte Colectivo), we know that surfaces like handrails, seats, horizontal and vertical poles, hanging grips, and walls within train cars all harbor microbial communities, and commuters’ skin microbiomes tend to have more microbial diversity and species richness following a ride. Even if these surfaces are frequently cleaned, research shows that certain microbial communities can reestablish within minutes.²² 

The subway microbiome seems to shift in response to the weather, seasons, and even the time of day, offering a glimpse into transportation systems’ history.^23,24 For example, researchers found marine-associated bacteria in a NYC subway station that had flooded during Hurricane Sandy years earlier.²⁵

Microbiome Care Is Community Care

Research demonstrates the (many) ways we share microbes every day—from when we wake up and turn on the coffee machine to when we take a train home from work and spend the evening catching up with family. This means that taking care of your own microbiome is also a way to take care of those around you.

Here are just a few ways to foster balance for the sake of your microbiome, your health, and your loved ones:

• Promote gut diversity by eating a wide range of nutrient-rich foods, and prioritizing fiber, prebiotics, monounsaturated fats, and fermented ingredients.
• Spend time outside every day, seeking out microbially diverse greenspaces whenever you can. 
• Foster meaningful social relationships and prioritize in-person meetups.
• Take (or gift!) DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic for gut and whole-body benefits. The two-in-one probiotic and prebiotic formula delivers 24 clinically and scientifically studied probiotic strains to promote gut health that’s worth sharing.*
• Opt for gentler products over antibacterial cleaners and bleaches so you don’t wipe out the “good” bacteria from your home environment.

EXPLORE FURTHER: Routines Over Resolutions: 12 Healthy Habits for Your Microbiome

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How is our microbiome shaped by family, friends, and neighbors?

People who spend more time together tend to have more similar microbiomes due to frequent microbial exchanges through physical contact, airborne transmission, and shared surfaces and environments. While this facilitates the spread of pathogens in some cases, it can promote beneficial diversity in others. 

What can people do to maintain a diverse and balanced microbiome?

To promote diversity in the gut microbiome, consume fiber-rich foods, minimize disruptors like alcohol and stress, drink plenty of water, and get regular physical activity. (But a quick PSA: Not all microbiomes of the body benefit from diversity. The vaginal microbiome, for example, functions best when dominated by a single bacterial genus, lactobacillus.)

The Key Insight

Your microbiome isn’t just yours—it’s a living archive of handshakes and hugs, shared meals and subway rides. While not every microbial exchange is a welcome one (looking at you, flu season), the vast majority are harmless—or even beneficial. So, the next time you gather with friends or loved ones, take comfort in knowing that you’re not just making memories. You’re making microbiomes.

The post How Your Relationships Influence Your Microbiome appeared first on Med-Lock.

• Certain elements of celebrations (i.e., fatty foods, alcohol, late nights) can temporarily disrupt the gut microbiome.
• These disruptions can interfere with digestion and cause temporary bloating and irregularity.
• Med-Lock’s DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic is a recovery ally, packed with bacteria that restore healthy gut function during times of occasional disruption.*

Indulgence is the spice of life. Ordering the over-the-top meal on vacation, staying up late to catch up with friends, drinking in celebration with loved ones—these are occasions to cherish and savor. Guilt doesn’t need to be part of the equation, and gut issues don’t need to leave you with regrets.

Follow our game plan to help your gut reset, recover, and get back on track quickly after a treat-yourself moment.

The Top Gut Microbiome Disruptors

Let’s double-click on how certain elements of celebrations can impact the gut on their way down: 

• Delicious as they may be, foods that are high in saturated fat (like red meat) can slow intestinal transit time (how long it takes food to travel through the GI tract) and make stool harder to pass.¹ Plus, their high sulfur content can cause the stools that do touch down in the toilet to take on a funky odor.² Other types of trans fats (baked goods, fried foods) may disrupt gut microbiota composition and contribute to slower transit times, leading to some, shall we say, unnecessary roughness in the bathroom,³ while added sugars can weaken the all-important gut barrier.^4,5
• Alcoholic beverages can also be a buzzkill for the gut. As ethanol (the active component in alcohol) is processed, it can harm the mucosal lining of the gut. This increase in gut permeability can open the door for toxins to escape the gut and circulate throughout the body, triggering inflammation.⁶ Certain bevs, like beer, also contain additives such as high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors. These have been linked to disruptions in the gut microbiome that could contribute to digestive issues over time.^7,8  Plus, the ensuing dehydration leads to slower transit time in the gut, which can result in the overgrowth of harmful bacteria and a decreased diversity of beneficial microbes.⁹

To add insult to injury, research suggests that once you throw more than one disruption into the mix, the impact on the gut microbiome can multiply (i.e., drinking alcohol and having a poor night of sleep can disrupt your gut more than either stressor alone).^10,11 

The disruptions listed above can shift the composition of the gut microbiome in as little as 24 hours (sigh).¹² And when the microbiome is destabilized, our guts are less equipped to defend against harmful bacteria, fungi, or other pathogenic microbes.

If left unchecked, these changes can impair the microbiome’s ability to break down dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the long run. Certain SCFAs, like acetate and butyrate, act as premium-grade fuel for intestinal cells and they help form a strong barrier between the gut and the rest of the body.^13,14 Without them, our guts are not as well-defended from disruptors, putting us more at risk of future digestive issues. 

Your Gut Recovery Game Plan

To get your gut health back on track after a big night has you feeling down, it’s important to give your “good” gut bacteria the materials they need to restabilize. In the days that follow, eat plenty of fiber-rich plants, fermented foods, and healthy omega-3 fats, and consider taking a science-backed probiotic for a more rapid reboot. 

Probiotics contain targeted bacteria strains that, when delivered to the gut, help outcompete potentially harmful bacteria and restore balance in the microbiome. Different strains of bacteria have their own unique strengths. Some support digestion while others synthesize vitamins or modulate immune function.^15,16 

The 24 strains in Med-Lock’s DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic act as a winning recovery team to rapidly restore healthy gut function during times of occasional disruption.*¹⁷ Our ViaCap^® capsule-in-capsule technology protects these strains from stomach acid, digestive enzymes, and bile salts. This helps ensure that they survive the earlier phases of digestion to reach the colon, where they can get to work quickly.

Unlike most probiotics companies, we run double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials (the MVP of scientific research) on our products to ensure the individual ingredients work together. Once in the colon, the strains in DS-01^® are scientifically shown to help the resident microbes in your gut strengthen the intestinal barrier and produce healthy gut metabolites—leading to less bloat and discomfort and smoother, more regular bowel movements, stat.*

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• How can I reset my gut naturally? Taking a probiotic supplement, particularly one that has been clinically tested, like DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic, can help quickly replenish beneficial gut bacteria during times of occasional disruption.*
• What should I eat to reset my gut? Everyone’s different, but a diet that’s rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, grains, and fermented foods tends to be best for the gut microbiome. Dig deeper into the best diet for gut health here.

The Key Insight

Though they’re nothing to feel guilty about, occasional indulgences can disturb gut health. Keep Med-Lock’s DS-01^® Daily Synbiotic on hand to help your microbiome recover quickly so you can feel like yourself again.

The post How to Press the “Reset” Button On Your Gut appeared first on Med-Lock.

Yesterday, I watched a video of a woman chowing down on a tub of butter and a T-bone steak. Between bites, she faced the camera to say something to any vegans who might be watching: their food choices were poisoning them. The comment section was, to put it mildly, heated. The whole thing encapsulated just how dogmatic, extreme, and polarized our nutrition landscape has become. 

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the Mediterranean diet has gained popularity as a kind of safe middle ground. It just snagged the top slot on the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets of the Year list for the seventh year in a row, and social media now houses over 40 million videos of Mediterranean-inspired meals and tips. 

How did this regional way of eating become so globally ubiquitous, and is it actually as great as the internet makes it sound? Join us as we cut into the research on the Mediterranean diet and its impact on gut health, tradition, and culture.

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The Claim: “The Mediterranean Diet Is the Top Eating Plan for Overall Health”

There are some discrepancies in how the Mediterranean diet is defined, but it tends to be high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, herbs, and monounsaturated fats like olive oil.¹ It includes some animal protein but is low in sugar, red meat, highly processed foods, and most alcohol (other than red wine). 

The diet is said to mimic traditional foods favored by countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (though upwards of 20 countries across three continents and 29,000 miles of coastline fit this bill, and they all have their own regional cuisines). 

American researcher Ancel Keys is credited with making the Mediterranean the mecca of “healthy” eating globally.² From 1958 to 1970, Keys traveled to seven countries—Finland, Holland, Italy, the United States, Greece, Japan, and Yugoslavia—to observe their traditional diets. He monitored ~11,000 people in these countries to determine how their eating habits might impact their cardiovascular disease risk.

You can probably guess the results of his Seven Countries Study: Residents of Italy and Greece seemed to run a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, and Keys deduced that it was because of their diets (especially the types of fats they ate).³ 

Though it was cutting-edge at the time, by today’s standards, Keys’ research was far from perfect. For starters, he only studied men. “In those days, we did not consider involving women because of the great rarity of cardiac events among them, and the invasiveness of our field examinations.” Henry Blackburn, MD, another scientist on the project, writes in a retrospective on the research.⁴ Blackburn also recalls that the study’s geographical areas and participants were chosen in part “for reasons of convenience.”

Limitations aside, Keys’ research kicked off a wave of interest in the Mediterranean diet and its potential impacts on health and longevity.

The Context: The Best Diet Is What’s Best for Your Microbes

There has been no shortage of research on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet in the decades since—particularly for cardiovascular health.

“No other dietary pattern has undergone such a comprehensive, repeated, and international assessment of its cardiovascular effects…The MedDiet has successfully passed all the needed tests and it approaches the gold standard for cardiovascular health,” reads one review by the American Heart Association.⁵ Components of the eating plan are also thought to be protective from metabolic syndrome and cancer.^6,7

The MedDiet’s impact on these massive diseases can be traced back to a much smaller domain: the gut microbiome. As gastroenterologist and Med-Lock Scientific Board Member Emeran Mayer, MD says, “The best diet is what’s best for your microbes.” The microscopic ecosystem in your gut can influence everything from immune function to mood to metabolism, after all. 

The Mediterranean diet scores high marks for its microbial impact thanks to its fiber, vitamin, and antioxidant content. Here’s why:

• The Mediterranean diet can be up to twice as high in some forms of fiber as the stereotypical Western diet.⁸ The MedDiet’s emphasis on whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits gives gut bacteria plenty of complex carbohydrates to feed on. (Learn more about why fiber is such a feast for your microbes here.) In the process of breaking down these plant fibers, bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate. These byproducts help suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the intestinal barrier.^9,10 
• The Mediterranean diet is high in plants and omega-3s that contain antioxidants like vitamins A and C, carotenoids, and glutathione.¹¹ These also have an anti-inflammatory effect and help maintain a strong and protective gut barrier.¹² They’ve been shown to combat chronic inflammation in the gut, potentially offering protection from disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).¹³
• Some Mediterranean diet staples, like onions and garlic, are sources of prebiotics. These prebiotic substrates “feed” beneficial bacteria, further promoting the production of gut-strengthening SCFAs and warding off harmful pathogens.¹⁴ 

The Cultured Check: Food and Culture Are Personal

The verdict is in: The Mediterranean diet is one nutrition approach we can get behind due to its emphasis on fiber, whole foods, and omega-3s. We also appreciate that it isn’t as restrictive as other fad diets that cut out entire food groups your gut bacteria depend on (looking at you, low-FODMAP.) Its emphasis on plants also lowers its associated greenhouse gas emissions.¹⁵ 

However, as mentioned earlier, there is no one way to eat like you’re in the Mediterranean. Research reflects this: One literature review notes that previous studies on the “Mediterranean diet” have asked participants to eat anywhere from 15.7 to 80 mL/day of olive oil, 5.5 to 60.5 g/day of legumes, and 210 to 682 g/day of vegetables; over a five-fold difference in some cases.¹

If you’re interested in trying it out, we recommend streamlining these numbers and aiming to fill your plate with at least 70% plants instead (unless you have a particular deficiency or health condition) for the sake of your microbiome.

These don’t need to be limited to olives, San Marzano tomatoes, or other foods you’d find in the fields of Naples either. Different plants contain unique types of fiber and prebiotics that nourish different species of gut bacteria, so variety is key.¹⁶ 

While other regional ingredients are not as frequently studied as those from the Mediterranean, that isn’t necessarily a reflection of their nutritional value. Some researchers note that this discrepancy could be the result of racial biases in nutrition research and the glorification of white vs. nonwhite cultural diets.¹⁷

So instead of following some “universal” (and let’s face it, whitewashed) version of the Mediterranean diet, allow yourself to make it your own. Apply its emphasis on fiber, whole grains, and healthy fats to your own culture and regional cuisine. 

For maximum microbial benefits, we’d also recommend adding some fermented foods and probiotics to the mix.

Finally, it’s important to remember that diet is about more than nutrition. Positive social interactions, stress-relieving activities, exercise, and time in nature also play important roles in supporting your microbiome. Let’s not forget the origin of the word “diet”: The Greek word diaita, or “way of life.”

The Key Insight

The Mediterranean diet has proven benefits for the gut (and beyond), and it’s a refreshingly adaptable nutrition philosophy in an otherwise dogmatic landscape. If you’re looking to use food to feel better in the new year, incorporating more of its staples like fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, grains, and omega-3s will likely help. 

That said, the MedDiet as it exists on Instagram and TikTok isn’t right for everyone. Instead of sticking to foods that are native to a particular region of the world, you’re better off working with the ingredients that you have access to and enjoy. Food is synonymous with culture, and a world where everyone eats the same things sounds pretty dreadful. Instead of using food to take a trip to Italy, let’s treat it as a journey to our own backyards.

The post Cultured Check: Should We All Be Following the Mediterranean Diet? appeared first on Med-Lock.