BBC Focus - 03.2020

DISCOVERIES

News

in brief

TRAVIS DUBRIDGE, KESHAB GOGOI, GET T Y IMAGES X2 ILLUSTRATION: JOE WALDRON

Ouradaptable

gutbacteria

mayhave

allowedusto

colonisenew

environments

PLANTINGBEES’FAVOURITE

FLOWERSMAYHELPSAVETHEM

Bumblebeepopulationshavedeclinedin

recentdecades.Onereasonforthisis a lack

offlowers,andbeescanbepickyaboutthe

bloomstheyvisit,accordingtoresearch

publishedinthejournalEnvironmental

Entomology. It wasfoundthatof 100 flower

species, 14 were the preferred choice of the

bees,withdifferentbeespeciesfavouring

differentflowers.“Thisstudyallowed

ustoprovidea concise,scientificallybased

listofimportantplantspeciestousein

habitatrestorationthatwillmeetthe

needsofmultiplebumblebeespeciesand

providebloomsacrosstheentireannual

lifecycle,”saidHelen Loffland, who took part

in the research.

“Weoutsourcedour

bodymicrobesinto

our foods– that

couldwellbethe

mostimportanttool

we ever invented”

theconsequencesofchangesinthe

humanmicrobiome,”saidDunn.

Byusingdatafrompreviously

publishedstudiesofgutbacteriafound

inhumansandotherprimates,theteam

foundthattherearebigdifferences

inthefunctionandcompositionofa

person’smicrobiomedependingontheir

location,theirdietandtheirlifestyle.

Theythinkthatwhenourancestors

arrivedinnewplacesandencountered

newfoods,it wastheadaptabilityof

theirgutbacteriathatallowedthemto

detoxifyanddigestthefood.

Buttheteamalsobelievesthatour

ancestorslearnttoprocessfoodby

employingthebacteriafromtheir

bodiestoinitiatethefermentation

process.Similarmethodsarestillin

usetoday– bacteriainsalivaareused

toproducealcoholicdrinksinLatin

America,andskinbacteriaareinvolved

intheproductionofsomesoftcheeses

and sourdough breads. By using their

microbestofermentcertainmeats,

tubersandroots,ourancestorswere

abletoenrichthevitamincontentof

thesefoodsaswellaspreservethem

forlongertoprovidea lastingsourceof

nutritionina particularlocation.

“Weoutsourcedourbodymicrobes

intoourfoods– thatcouldwellbethe

most important tool we ever invented.

Butit’sa hardtooltoseeinthepast

andsowedon’ttalkaboutit much.

Stoneartefactspreserve,butfishor

beerfermentedina holeintheground

doesn’t,”saidDunn.“Hopefullythe

nextdecadewillseemorefocuson

microbesinourpastandlesson

sharprocks.”

DrTimSpector,professorofgenetic

epidemiologyatKing’sCollegeLondon

andauthorofTheDietMyth, echoes

thesentiment.“Thehypothesisthat

microbeshelpedourancestorsadapt

tonewenvironmentsiscompelling,

thoughhardtoprove,”hesaid.“Our

gutmicrobesarethemostuniqueand

modifiablepartofourbodiesand

willrapidlyreacttonewfoodsand

environment.Weshareonlyaround

25 percentofourmicrobeswitheach

othercomparedtoover 99 percentof

ourgenes,soit makessensethatwe

reliedonthemfortherapidadaptations

needed as we expanded [our range].”

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