Your microbiome questions answered: part one

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ian Sample is joined by James Kinross, colorectal surgeon and author of the book Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome, to answer all your questions about gut health. In episode one, James explains how the gut microbiome gets set up, how it impacts our early development, and the effect antibiotics can have on our microbes. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:10.7	Does your dream holiday include hiking, lounging, whitewater rafting?
0:16.4	Then explore northern Spain with Brittany ferries.
0:19.7	Catch a cable car up the Picos de Europa, wonder the
0:23.1	golden sands of La Concha Beach, or get your heart racing on the Rio Gajegos Rapids. Learn how you can save
0:30.3	up to 30% on your sailing with a Brittany Ferries holiday and visit the Guardian.com forward slash
0:36.8	uncommon holidays. This message was paid for by Brittany Ferries holiday and visit the Guardian.com forward slash uncommon holidays.
0:38.5	This message was paid for by Brittany Ferries.
0:45.3	The more we learn about the microbiome, the more fascinating questions are raised.
0:56.1	We think that there might be 2,000 species of bacteria,
1:00.2	and there's probably about 150,000 species of viruses in the gut,
1:03.9	and we've got no idea what they are.
1:05.6	They don't exist in our databases, and we don't know what they do.
1:08.9	How do these bugs shape us?
1:11.3	From our births to our deaths, how do they define our lives and our health?
1:16.2	We often think about dementia as being a brain problem and isn't.
1:19.1	It's a gut problem.
1:20.5	Half of Europe has an allergy.
1:22.0	Why?
1:22.4	Well, we think the microbiome is important in that.
1:25.0	How can we shape them?
1:26.8	Are there things we should do or eat to create flourishing ecosystems?
	...

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