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<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nRALEIGH \u2014 The microbes in and on your body are more numerous than the stars in the Milky Way. Clump them together, and they weigh about as much as your brain \u2014 approximately three pounds. Microbes \u2014 the term used for organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye \u2014 have often been seen simply as \u201cgerms\u201d that cause disease. Yet contrary to this common misconception, most of the microbes that live in your body are vital to keeping your digestive system, your immune system, and even your brain working properly. Opening at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences October 22, \u201cThe Secret World Inside You<\/a>\u201d uses larger-than-life models, computer interactives, videos and art installations to explore the rapidly evolving science that is revolutionizing how we view human health and understand the inner workings of our bodies.<\/p>\n Our bodies are home to many trillions of microbes living in and on us, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and other organisms collectively called the \u201chuman microbiome.\u201d In any individual, microbial genes outnumber the genes in human DNA by more than 100 to one. Your body also contains more microbial cells than human cells \u2014 a new perspective that is changing and complicating our view of ourselves.<\/p>\n Investigating the human microbiome is a very young science, and researchers are just beginning to understand what constitutes a \u201cnormal\u201d microbiome, how it changes over time, and how it affects health and disease. But what is clear is that the effects of the microbiome on its human host are profound and multifaceted \u2014 and could play an important role in common health problems like allergies, asthma, obesity, and even anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n How do your interactions with microbes \u2014 from the type of environment where you grew up to the number of times you have taken antibiotics, which destroy both bad and good bacteria \u2014 influence your health? In what ways can your microbiome be said to be its own organ? And is it possible that the state of the bacteria in your gut plays a role in your mental health? \u201cThe Secret World Inside You\u201d dives into these intriguing and other profound questions through an interactive tour of the human body, making stops at places where microbes thrive, like your skin, your gut, and even your armpits.<\/p>\n Your skin covers about 20 square feet, making it the largest organ in your body, and microscopic organisms cover it from head to toe. From the point of view of a microbe, your skin is like an enormous continent, with resources that vary dramatically from one region to another. Differences in skin temperature, texture, thickness, humidity and chemistry help determine which kinds of microbes live where.<\/p>\n Your digestive tract, or gut, is home to about 99 percent of your microbiome. Very few bacteria can survive in the acidic environment of your stomach, but they thrive in the small intestine and large intestine, where most digestion and fermentation of food takes place, respectively. The microbes here help with digestion, immune regulation, disease prevention, healing and protecting your gut lining, appetite control, brain development, and even emotion.<\/p>\n Julie Horvath, Head of the Museum\u2019s Genomics & Microbiology Research Lab, is a comparative evolutionary genomicist interested in understanding the evolutionary forces that have shaped primate genomes and that impact health and disease. She (and colleagues) initiated an armpit biodiversity project to identify the microbes that live under primate armpits. Since animal \u201cfragrance\u201d is partially determined by what is under the armpit, and it is the microbes living on skin that produce body odor, this has implications for mate choice and has exciting evolutionary implications. Her team recently swabbed armpits from a variety of non-human primates to compare to humans. Citizen scientists have also helped explore some of the factors affecting microbe biodiversity, which may be dictated by the deodorant or antiperspirant used, and the type of soap and water used for bathing. These studies have implications for our health and wellbeing, as well as our understanding of what constitutes a \u201chealthy\u201d skin microbiome. Horvath\u2019s work will also be featured in the exhibition.<\/p>\n The Secret World Inside You is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York. This exhibition is sponsored by UNC REX Healthcare and presented in partnership with the NC State College of Sciences, with additional support from RTI International.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secret World Inside You\u201d runs October 22, 2016 \u2013 March 12, 2017. Tickets are available online at naturalsciences.org or at the Museum Box Office (onsite or by phone at 919.707.9950). Prices: Adults $10, Children (3-12) $7, Seniors\/Students\/Military $8, Free for Members.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9345,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/9344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/9344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}