Rob Knight: How our microbes make us who we are

The question that is puzzling me big time : how can you improve your microbiome ? Probiotics and fermented foods are useless since they are aerobic and gut bacteria is anaerobic. increasing fiber helps the ones you have thrive but it doesn't add diversity...
i know it is all a new thing but would like any info in this regards.

This is such an exciting field! I can't wait for what the future will bring when it comes to microbial transplants. To this day there is so little we can for patients with digestive disorders

My concern with all this is the clock it ticking with this crowd funded project Rob is part of. The crowd is not nearly big enough to deal with this. The implications of this work is broad. I see Rob is now doing world forums and indicating that world hunger could be improved with what they learn. (Is he mining for deep pockets?) I see why Rob will not let big companies own this data and has not sold out from what I can tell. Just as the Human Genome was in a race with corporations the U.S. government was able to win that race so that our dna code is not owned by one company, it is open source.. The U.S. government must also take the lead on breaking the codes with our microbiome so it will be open source as well. We are waging war in the middle east for 12+ yrs and I would like to see us put that kind of money towards winning the war on epidemic chronic diseases related to our microbiome. I know it would put a lot of quack related healthcare out of business but would open a new door on real solutions not bandaids. I have been waiting for 2 years to hear about concrete results from Rob's crowd funding study. I think he needs to seriously publish some real answers to keep us interested. Some have said that Rob's collecting of samples really is not doing that much. It is not really drilling down on this. I wonder if they are right since I am not seeing any real outcomes from any of this just a lot of regurgitation on the broad message here. I see a researcher Brett Finlay has drilled down for asthma in children and identified 4 strains they are missing. Yes microbes are important so now what? What do we do? I see all these hip geek types that get special invitations to these TED talks are now into space stuff and it feels like total folly while we are in the trenches with so many serious issues. Why go to Mars if we don't know how to stop the carbon issues, we don't know how to make so many diseases a thing of the past. I am growing old and weary of the lack of focus and inability for this country to really set priorities and agendas. I am sick to death reading about who has more billions. I used to think TED was ground breaking to get things done and to bring parties together but I feel like it is just entertainment for the geek elite. Even TED has lost it's focus.

Do dental X rays kill the mouth microbiome?

I live without a colon, the alleged "home" to a vast majority of my microbes, yet I don't experience allergies, ear/eye/throat infections, GI problems, mental health issues, obesity, or any other health-related troubles - what explanation could there be for this?

I ask because there are millions of us without a colon, yet we seem to experience no ill-effects from it. Do the microbes that would normally be in our colon set up shop somewhere else? Where?

I find the topic very interesting, as well as the possible future medical treatment of obesity and etc. Though I do wish this guy could speak in such a way that would grab my attention because I find his talk rather boring to me that I almost fell a asleep. Over all it was a great video its just, to me, his talks doesn't interest me the most

The best TED Talk ever done, amazing.

Great video! I have also just recently read an article for my Biology course about the importance of microbes. I had no idea until recently how important of a role microbes play in our body and how they are make each individual different, such as foods that crave, how fast our metabolism is, and make up to 2-3% of our body and can actually prevent asthma. Studies actually show that children born within their first few months if they had an ear infection and have received antibiotics versus children who did not receive vaccines due to ear infection, the children who had the antibiotics, were more likely to be overweight later in life (also mentioned in the video above), and also more likely to develop asthma. It is amazing how good something is that is associated to be so terrible. We are so quick to prescribe antibiotics, deeply clean to get rid of microbes. Yes, a lot of studies have to studied in mice. Another interesting fact is when an infant is born from either natural or c-section, all of the microbes you receive are all completely the mothers, and the infants develop their own microbes throughout time. The study for malnourished sounds like a very good, efficient idea, I really hope it works out. I have also head of the "American Gut" project, which is also amazing. It is amazing who something that seems so small is so important and can make such an impact, it brings a whole new light on looking for treatment, and even cause and diagnosis.

Human Genome Project (HGP) was initiated and completed by DOE, NIH is only a later involver.

Could all wiggly critters be merely stages of microbial beings, life forms from amassed single cell entities, even the roaming lights in the sky and crop designs?

For anyone interested, Rob Knight also gives a free 6 week class on Coursera called "Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome", which you can take at anytime.

So... when cannibals say they're going to eat someone to steal their powers, that might actually be what happens?

what about the effect of vaccinations on healthy microbe development? idono

Fantastic, articulate speaker.

Inject black humans with microbes from whites or Asians to raise their IQ?  It is worth a shot.

He is a specialist in his field, but in his field only.
No animals should be used at all. We, human species do not deserve the torture of even one mouse.
He addresses a population who lives on the SAD (standard American Diet) and not on raw food, on green leafy vegetables. Change your diet, change your life.

WHAT IS THIS ACCENT?!!!

So interesting! Is there a transcript of this TED Talk?

This is Cool!!