Blog 9 - Interview with Michael Pollan

     Microbes are used a ton in making various foods and drinks; as you know, cheese and beer are the most popular. Brewers and cheesemakers are known as “fermentos”. These are the kind of people who have a very “relaxed attitude” towards bacteria; unlike most people.

     In this article the author, Rachel Nolan, interviews Michael Pollan, a food author. She asked him, “What surprised you most about the microbiome’s possible effects on humans?” Pollan replied with something I have never heard before. What surprised him (and me) most was that our gut microbes can actually obtain genes from our food, thus changing their genetic make-up. For example, people in American have different microbes than people in Japan, because they have a gene that lets them metabolize seaweed. This gene came from a microbe living on the seaweed.

    Rachel then asked Nollan how we can improve our micro biome, in which he responded with that humans should garden. Exposing one’s body to soil can increase “microbial pressure”. He also says that having a dog is good too.

    She continues asking Pollan various questions about micro biomes, but these are the most interesting. This article was very cool because instead of reading a normal article, it was actually an interview with an author of the book “Cooked”. Pollan did a ton of research on microbes, and the article provided a lot of information I didn’t know. The only question I had was what “microbial pressure” was. Overall, it was a cool read

http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/behind-the-cover-story-michael-pollan-on-why-bacteria-arent-the-enemy/?action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry393%23%2Ffermented%2Bfood%2F