National Geographic looks at a new social network that matches “friends” based on their intestinal bacteria:
MyMicrobes, which opened to the public last week is looking for new members. The goal of the nonprofit project is twofold: to help scientists collect data on bacteria that live in the human gut and to allow members with similar profiles to share diet tips, experiences, and health information.
Those interested in joining are asked to submit a stool sample and to cover the cost of the analysis and sequencing (around $2,100). In spite of the substantial cost, more than 100 people have already joined and project coordinators say they are hoping to enroll at least 5,000 members total. MyMicrobes may not be the next Facebook, but biochemist Peer Bork told Nature that there is definite interest in the project.
Send a stool sample to Peer Bork? Ah. Hm. You can read more about bacterial networking here.
And yeah. I guess I’m back on the Lactobacillus kick again.