 That I've been doing with her We you know we talk about I am a biologist So so we we know a lot about that we're learning a lot about the human microbiome And so microbiome is just whatever and not just bacteria the microbiome also contains a consists of viruses Fungi that live in you and on you everywhere. Okay, so so now I mean They're increasingly doing more and more studies, you know swapping people in different places and seeing you know What's growing where and I don't have any of you have heard about like the the vaginal cheese making somewhere in Europe I think you know or yeah, you're making cheese from like, you know some bacteria in between your toes So so this is just I just pulled this from From a talk and I and basically you know we're learning a lot but the bacteria that are on our skin and our gut and so you know a whole biome There's just basically the sum of all the the species the genomes that make make you, you know You right that we already lots of us know about like yogurt and bacteria in your gut and you know, they're healthy bacteria That's also bad bacteria. Um, and that's why any antibiotics biotics, right? Um, so let me see Okay, so before I go to next slide So also so that's I thinking about well, how much there were a lot of estimates of how many bacterial cells are in and on Humans and so, you know a while back maybe like five years ago They thought it was ten is to one which means that for every one human human cell from your DNA There were 10 10 bacterial cells But now the estimate there's a new paper out that says that it's more like one is to one. So something like something like 40 trillion Uh, uh bacterial cells to 30 trillion human cells Then I thought okay. Well, we also poop and every time you poop a lot of some of that is bacteria, right? So so today was a fun day googling like, uh Or dug dug go actually now. I'm trying to use that. Uh, was uh looking out for like human feces bacterial content You know, uh, there's a lot of fecal searches. And so there was no, um, I'll get I'll get to that later on So I did some some estimates, but uh, but but that there's a proportion right now So you're like one part human and then one part, you know, your microbiome uh, so So for those of you who came for microbial march at the art science museum when when marquette and I were having some fun there We talked about, um, philip also talked philip from from yell and us talked about, you know The the bacteria in and on our body and how it affects us, right? So there are things now that they're calling psychobiotics So in the past we knew that bacteria were required for some some metabolites, right? So they have to produce some vitamins That we needed they they you know, they they're living their lives inside there and they're giving us some nutrition but also, um, they There's not this term psychobiotics, which I like which is that bacteria are producing, you know, peptides and things that affect Our neuro our neurochemistry and how they do that is is this so like, you know, I think I never took human anatomy When I was in school because I did genetics. So, you know, we didn't learn about the body We just learned about chromosomes and DNA and things like that And and so the way the way your bacteria in your gut is a tool It's a two-way street So the way the bacteria in your gut can also send messages directly to your brain is this thing called the vagus nerve And everyone in here should learn about the vagus nerve because it's very important also for Our feelings of well-being as well. So it's the two-way street. So your brain can sign signals back down Yeah, oh, hello. I see one of the speakers. Yeah. Yeah Hi Is this the other oh, there should be a no, oh, yeah, yeah, of course and mark mark somewhere I suppose Oh, okay. Well, he should be on his way. Um So vagus nerve is a it's a very important now, but basically connects your your digestive system To the base of your your brainstem. I think if I'm not wrong Someone correct me later on because I was a lot of this between the last week In doing this research and so and so that's how your bacteria can can affect your mood Psycho biotics, uh, what else? Um, we also know that who knows what serotonin is Serotonin, do you know what it's involved in? Serotonin is it's something like the happy molecule. So it's supposed to be associated with feelings of well-being and you know And contentment are supposed to have happiness Um, but actually and and we always think that that our our mood is affected by our brain chemistry But and so we think all these neuropeptides and things that affect our our mood must only be in our brain But actually serotonin is we've known this for a long time now The majority of serotonin in your body is produced in your in your gut and it's stored in your gut But what they're learning now is actually that your gut cells that make and store serotonin So like something like 90 percent of your serotonin is is in here So it's also involved in digestion It's not just and I and I suppose if you have good digestion, you're pretty happy. So, you know, let's just go together but um I was going to say but but what they're learning now is that your gut cells actually produce more produce the the the normal amount of Serotonin Together with bacteria. So they work together, right? So the idea of this holobiont idea is that your your microbiome isn't just hanging around on you You know Being a parasite it could be, you know, there's bad stuff, but then a lot of it's actually working with us, right? They're helping us in some senses So so then who are you because you know your your your gut not only if it can affect your mood But it can also like, you know, there's some evidence and a lot of these come from like mice studies So of course you take this, you know, you We cannot necessarily extrapolate it to mean that it's happening in humans by mice You know the and flies they you know when you when you you you take away bacteria from From flies and mice you see changes in their behavior. You see changes in their cravings the food selection And so maybe, you know, I like to think that like, you know, every time I want chocolate Maybe it's not just me but maybe what some of my bacteria want chocolate and so I want chocolate But it makes me happy too. So who cares, you know, um So so so the word holobiont is is is meant for It's just a new way of thinking about who we are in a more I guess holistic You know, I suppose manner but also, um It has to do with It also has to do with your immune system So when they you know, and I and this is also very new for me So like reading about the philosophy of Of immunology like how the field started when it started we always thought like oh oh infection Right. So basically your body had to know what is self versus non-self, right? So I need to be able to identify Something that's attacking my system. So I know what's what's me. I know what's you like It's clearly demarcated. But then, you know, like as time went on we get, you know, we do a bit more research and then if they You know, then a different kind of definition came up, which is that like it is this is the context, right? So your gut is also involved your gut bacteria are also involved in your In the development of your immune system Hello Um, of course sure. Uh, I thought very fast. I'm almost done. Ha so So so it was no longer just, you know, like I am my immune system and you are bacteria So, you know, you know, we will attack right because obviously there are beneficial bacteria So, you know, then then the then the theory kind of evolves and and it says that, you know It's the context in which your immune system is presented Uh, a foreign a foreign body, right? Um, and so so it so you're constantly negotiating your immune system is constantly negotiating Uh, what's foreign and what's you know self? Um, and and of course, I mean, I I suppose some of you probably heard about autoimmunity Like what does you know, what does that bring to the the definition of what? Um Of who we are right because in autoimmunity your your own immune system is attacking Your cells. So what you know, what's going on there? So then, you know, then now we have the the whole of ions, you know theory of evolution Which ties in with with, you know changes as we are learning that many of these, uh, microbial communities that live In and on us, um, are actually required for our development. They're required for our health Right that required required for us to to function um So, so how do we think about us and what we want because we also have to start because now we are learning about all these bacteria We also know that because they help to control a lot of, you know, uh, our bodily functions, right? Um, and so now I'm going to jump into antibiotic resistance So, you know in in in talking about our whole genome and now, you know, we know that, you know, there are beneficial bacteria that we want to keep around um Many of us also have have taken antibiotics. Like, okay, actually, I'm very curious How many people in here have taken antibiotics in the last six months? In the last year Oh, wow, what a healthy crowd here very good for you. No, no, no, I mean Oh when I was in the u.s Like I met a lot of kids and even kids here in Singapore and they're constantly getting antibiotics, right? They're ear infection Recurrent ear infection. They still stay up to three weeks. They just give them another antibiotic So, uh, and but but it's not actually the the the human use of antibiotics. That's really scary It is the agricultural use of antibiotics. That's really scary. So what they do now I mean the u.s I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing this every pretty much everywhere else Is that you even if an animal is healthy you still get feed with antibiotics in it and and I think they're trying to change some of the regulations on this but But basically it's it's it's still a sort of a voluntary reduction of antibiotics In the u.s at least and and the way antibiotic resistance works is that you know, when you when you expose like an animal Or humans right to your bacteria to antibiotics you you're going to select for strains that that can resist Those antibiotics so when you really need your antibiotics to kill off something that's already got the resistance and resistance It's very easily spread between bacteria because it's not like there's something called bacterial sex Where cells actually like me and but you can also like just pick up bacteria can pick up pieces of DNA that contain What they call cassettes like gene cassettes that carry antibiotic resistance gene So it's not just about oh, you know the bacteria have to meet like there's actually relatively easy To pick up antibiotic antibiotic resistance. Ah, hi, this is mark one of the other speakers And And so and so when you have agriculture you also have huge numbers of animals So what it is is the numbers game right expose all the things that the the chances of something picking up Antibiotic resistance and passing it on because it's more effective in this environment is quite high And I was reading this very scary article, which I posted on facebook somewhere About how uh, well many of these agricultural farms are not going to allow Researchers on there right to swap things and tests. So so these researchers in the u.s drove behind a truck carrying chickens for my industrial farm and Then later on they swapped the surface and they found uh antibiotic resistance It's entero entero coca coci or something So they found it on like the cup holder just by driving with their windows down behind a truck carrying Chickens, okay now it's someone who's traveled in in you know, Cambodia, which I love and like, you know They often have like chickens everywhere. I mean, what are they using there? I mean for sure they're using tons of pesticides All over Southeast Asia now when it comes to antibiotics. I actually I don't really know but I'm very curious um And and so okay, so the big problem antibiotic resistance is, you know, our our food supply So it's not just pigs. It's chickens anything that they can keep and so this I guess is is a More concise description of you know, how how you get A resistance building up and how it passes to humans So the same article that I posted said that they also swapped There was a study with like farm workers and many of them were already carrying Antibiotic resistance bacteria on them like something like more than 50 percent 64 percent and they just swapped their noses and and I there was also a study with Methylene resistance that staff I can't remember if that was at the farms. Anyway, so so you know, so this is kind of the the schematic of A rough idea of what what it is Even if the meat is cooked um Yeah, well, I mean it depends right so for example, if you like your beef bread If you undercook your pork or chicken Uh, the handling of the meat, right when when it's raw someone's handling it and you may not eat it But it's it's there everywhere. It's on surfaces, you know, you could get in your face like you could you know, so so um Yes, but definitely of course consumption is the more direct method of getting it But the fact is that you would still have bacteria around that have Antibiotic resistance genes and like I said, it's easy to pass DNA around in my cobalt communities So but but but what's really sad for me is reading about antibiotic resistance in in wildlife, right? So most of these wildlife Okay, so this is actually captive captive population of sea lions in australia and if i'm not wrong, these are Critically endangered or at least endangered and so they they found that these these animals have antibiotic resistance when none of these animals have been treated with antibiotics and then uh and then and then they have the little penguins in Sydney, which I just learned about as well And and they are wild population not not endangered But they are also finding them antibiotic resistance in our wildlife. And so what does that mean? So that means that clearly our antibiotic resistance genes are getting around right into places where Nobody was presumably using antibiotics. Um but also you know in I do wildlife I work with wildlife conservation groups and you know all the work that gets put into trying to save animals in zoos and and You know protecting that that population can easily go to waste if You know, let's pretend like for some reason like one of them gets infected and then and their antibiotic resistance gets spread through there right, so it's it's People aren't even considering this now in conservation But it's something that we have to start thinking about and a lot of it has to do with agricultural use and human use so uh You know, so this there's a great website With a map of of all all the resistance bacteria all the bacteria that have antibiotic resistance different uh antibiotics Online this is just one of them and and this And this map is just going to to To get more colored, right? Probably um, if you want the website, I can I can probably get to get good at table link. Um So so it's just so so but but being selfish and coming back to us ourselves You know Mirsa, right MRSA It's it's been the news like and so it's actually causing a lot of unnecessary deaths in hospitals But they're not just in hospitals now I think also from like agricultural workers, right because when you once you get an infection you it's hard to get rid of it and nothing's working So okay, so Anthropocene so uh Maybe I want to ask how when you guys think of the word Anthropocene, is it good or is it bad? So anyone thinks it's good Okay, anyone everyone has a negative idea of what Anthropocene is But also, I mean, you know essentially the the word Anthropocene could just be it is it's in a way another buzz word to think about You know our our our impact on the environment because like apparently geologists are still arguing it's like, uh Um Environmental people about you know exactly when when when is Anthropocene and we're actually in the hollow scene and I actually don't know all these terms So I can't you know, but I can't tell you exactly like, you know, how they define. I mean has to do with like the soil layer um But yeah, but the Anthropocene has has just been depicted as you know, man having huge impacts on on on our environment and and it's depressing like you have got deforestation You've got you know, I look at these for just all the time because I look at wildlife Like trafficking and poaching these are things that like I care about and you know, you see that like you don't see that like Once you know once a month like you see that every day something is dying Right and and Anthropocene is just humans having like really shitty effects on on the environment at the moment Right, but but it could be something better than that I think um and you know and and part of I think there's a lot of uh What I call conservation depression like you need a lot of conservation I do anyway, um or people meeting people walking in sustainability and it's very depressing to talk about people like assholes. Oh my god I'm getting recorded. Okay, sorry You know, but but it's a very depressing scene right you like there's car in Southeast Asia, which is where I focus on There's a lot of corruption there's a lot of lack of interests, you know, um that that you see and there's a lot How do I say this nice thing? There's a lot of apathy I suppose um two issues that I care about So so sometimes I think yeah, why do I care? You know, like I could just sit and watch free anime from the rest of my life and be entertained with with fruit and chocolate But then I think we should remember again You know back to our pool, right? So so this is my back of the envelope calculation. I'd like to call it It's probably really far off. So according to a 1978 paper you know, we We poop out about that much. Yeah, I guess, you know, depending on your size actually, um, you know, apparently as I heard some people don't poop for like days And so 30 percent of your pool is apparently bacteria based on some other study And and the revised estimate of bacteria in humans is about 200 grams. Okay, so so let's say every day you poop out about 30 60 grams of bacteria, which is maybe like a third of your bacterial committee I'm you know and so a third of you a third of you know, what makes you you is changing every day and and I think like You know, it's easy to think that people don't change but we do we change every day Like and also and also like I'll back the way our bacteria Committee affect what you know, how we behave. It's a two-way street, right? So people there studies now apparently where like, you know, if you eat yogurt containing a certain kind of like two bacillus strain People report having a better mood, you know more calm maybe less anxiety So so you can affect, you know, you have a choice about what you eat And and so I think I was being I was just being silly when I said you are the resistance But you are the resistance in the sense that you are part of the problem if you're taking antibiotics and and you are helping to pass through you know Drugs that that can help to select for antibiotic resistance, but you also have a choice in You know, if you if you if all the problems that we look at Look impossible to deal with your choice is in what you eat And I mean, you know, Marquette and I have these discussions and she'll talk more about food But you know, your choice is in what you eat And I think in in in that choice you can actually start to make little changes that can affect Something like any boundary resistance That would harm cute little penguins in Australia. So all right, that's it. That's it for me Now we all