BBC Science Focus - 03.2020

DISCOVERIES

NOTA HEADACHE

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MAGICMUSHROOMS

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ABRIDGE TOO FAR

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SHRIMPYDINNER

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HAVE GUT

BACTERIA,

W I L L T R AV E L

Ourancestors’ gut microbiome may

have helped them adapt to new areas

GETTY IMAGES

Our feet may be made for

walking but it’s our gut bacteria

that enabled us to spread so

far around the globe, according

to a new study carried out by

a team of scientists at North

Carolina State University in

the US. The researchers suggest

that our microbiome could

have been the crucial factor

that allowed us to adapt and

survive in new locations. The

hypotheses suggested by this

study still need to be tested by

palaeoanthropologists, ecologists

and medical researchers, but Dr

Rob Dunn, the biologist who led

the team, hopes it will shift the

emphasis of future research.

“We’re hoping the findings

will change some questions, and

that other researchers will study 2

Illustrationof

bacteria in the

human gut