Script/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor: Anna Pesavento
Production Assistant: Carolin Geisler
Sound Design: Jan Cziharz
Music: Brokenkites - Wood between the worlds
Recently scientists of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, discovered that there are just three distinctive bacterial community types that divide up the world.
Each individual carries one of these so called “Enterotypes” and surprisingly these clusters are not related to age, gender, body mass index and nationality. Each one produces energy in slightly different ways.
The result could help to pinpoint the causes of obesity and inflammatory bowel disease, and to personalize medicine.
In November 2011 the team launched the social network my.microbes.eu, which connects people with similar intestinal bacteria compositions.
The website offers a place for people to participate in their study by having their own microbiota being sequenced and discussing their digestive health with other participants.
In exchange the researchers hope to gather a wealth of data about the bacteria living in peoples guts.