Rob Knight: How our microbes make us who we are

Rob Knight is a pioneer in studying human microbes, the community of tiny single-cell organisms living inside our bodies that have a huge - and largely unexplored - role in our health. “The three pounds of microbes that you carry around with you might be more important than every single gene you carry around in your genome,” he says. Find out why.
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[@emilywillen508]

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.

[@MLouah-gp9ef]

Emily Willen I think I'm starting to have feelings for you

[@bhawankishore7236]

Emily Willen thank u

[@Biomeducated]

Thanks a thousand, Emily! Will definitely check that out. Very relevant for my own research :)

[@foxiefair123]

Emily Willen Oh, cool, thanks!😀

[@xiaolingzhang44]

Your are awesome! do you know anything about oral probiotics?

[@RussFling]

I have recently gone back to school for microbiology, and I am amazed how ignorant I was to the microbial world living inside and on me! This is a great Ted Talk shedding light on how microbes help us in countless ways. It seems it is an exciting time to be a microbiologist!

[@snowflake5204]

Hey @Russ! I am curious to know what you are doing right now. :D Indeed it's a great time to be microbiologist or maybe bioinformatician..

[@alanw505]

This symbiotic relationship seems so understandable when you consider that the first 80% of earths life cycle were single cell bacteria. 

[@FuOnY]

what about the remaining 20%?

[@alanw505]

FuOnY​ Man, that's a long answer. In short life needed to have things like oxygen, an atmosphere in order to begin rapidly evolving past the single cell bacteria stage in and out of the water. Of course none of this was planned nor had an end goal in mind.

[@piranha031091]

FuOnY I think that's just a matter of poor wording here. What Alan W meant is that life on earth was exclusively single cell bacteria from its beginning until 80% of its current age. Only then did it began evolving past that stage. It seemed really weird to me too, I first understood it as "80% of earth's life was bacteria at first", had to reread it a bunch of time.

[@piranha031091]

Also, on a separate note, Pluricellular life is likely much older than that. 600 million years old is the date for the oldest confirmed multicellular fossils. (Those from the Doushanto formation). The Grypania and Francevillian biota are both dated back to 2.1 billion years old. While there is still a debate over their multiicellular nature (especially for Grypania, not so much for the Francevillian biota), odds are quite likely that they actually were multicellular. And since the actual oldest multicellular organisms were probably slimy blobs of cells without a defined shape, it is highly unlikely we will ever find fossils of them. So, odds are life only stayed exclusively as single cell organism for something around 44% of its current existence on Earth. (probably less : there seems to be less chronological incertitude on the origins of life itself (the earliest possible dates being limited by Earth's habitability) than on the time of its evolution into pluricellular organisms).

[@alanw505]

piranha031091 Cyanobacteria discovered in Australia is dated to nearly 3.5 billon years ago. You are correct about multicellular life recently discover to be at least 2 billion years old.

[@arthurdent6256]

These Ted talks are a gold mine for Science Fiction/ Fantasy writers. They explain their fields so well.

[@devilside1]

This is make human become more complex. I think this study was awesome. The world of microbe inside you define who you are.

[@2TimeShift]

Thank You Rob. I had heard of fecal transplants years ago but dismissed it as quackery. I can envision your research leading to one day taking a pill full of specific microbes that will cure diseases or perhaps undo some of the damage we humans have unknowingly inflicted on ourselves.

[@vegness]

Absolutely fascinating!!! I am now really keen to learn more in this area!

[@61Marsh]

Truly amazing, this could a radical start to many new treatments

[@vikinghealth1765]

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

[@sallysassa]

Rob Knight (born 1976 in Dunedin, New Zealand) Thank you - great info.

[@selenaclarke]

Theres AMAZING stuff coming from NZ

[@r.ridderbusch7303]

Thank you very much for your input in getting my daughter's paper published!

[@kevinchen-mv4fm]

This is truly fascinating

[@modiginternaldisciplines3150]

Very interesting information that answers a lot of questions for me.

[@jkst9864]

Incredibly interesting and insightful for a layman. Thanks.

[@janineclaassens9019]

You are doing awesome work. Keep it up

[@MrsKik001]

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

[@robin0540]

Very interesting. Wish I knew more about this earlier.

[@HiAdrian]

Very interesting field of study, I hope further surprising revelations await that can help us.

[@tdreamgmail]

This tremendous groundbreaking work. A rare return to form for TED talks, a talk about new discovery, not reinterpretations of an old anecdotal story. I wonder if we can change our own microbal colonies by what we consume. This is what generally happens when you introduce some new type of food, eg. fermented foods, sauerkraut or kim chi. or probiotic yoghurt or kefir. I hoped he would go more in depth about how he managed to get the normal vaginal microbes onto his new born c sectioned baby.

[@sbsman4998]

+tdreamgmail Yes, and so easy to make everything you mentioned from organic raw foods. One might also consider implanting probiotics via coffee enemas.

[@faloutphil]

You can change your microbiome by eating probiotic foods like kimchi and especially eating prebiotic foods like dark leafy greens. And avoiding antibiotic foods like meat, dairy, farm raised fish

[@droqueplot]

This is mind blowing!

[@scottverbridge7698]

Great stuff! The 10:1 ratio for bacterial cells to "our" cells estimate has been revised, it's probably closer to 1:1. Otherwise great info!

[@CoiledDracca]

A good portion of me is not actually me... and you... Did you know it, I admit, I did, but I love videos that put it forward like this.

[@williamnguyen2677]

I met him at school today, he was so interesting

[@sammy7424]

I watched this two and a half years aho and my mind was blown- im now at uni studying microbiology :)

[@chuckstarwar7890]

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

[@Cabledog9277]

The best TED Talk ever done, amazing.

[@huonglarne]

Incredible

[@paulocavalcante5795]

the best TED :)

[@TaroutCommodore]

Why are so many assholes complaining about his accent? People have different accents you know that right? Plus, if you're a scientist you get to speak HOWEVER because you're awesome :)

[@noscabkiss]

Why are so many assholes complaining about his accent? Because they suffer from Libtardism, and so therefore, it's 'racist' ! Perhaps yelling out 'alla akshit' or whatever like they do will bring us the cultural enrichment that they missed from the above video..? .Eye think knot! Cheers!

[@milenadeltorto2324]

Wow! So where/how can I get the biome to lose weight? Anyone know?

[@maheshdebata2991]

Very good

[@sheilalepotakis8441]

Very interesting.

[@arod2799]

I'm abit confuse of how microbes could effect a person being odese or not. To my personal opinion I do believe obesity is cause by the person over eating habits (I have not reseach odesity topices since 10th grade, so my opinion can be easily be change with some good facts) Rob Knight is saying with the right microbes, it could cure illness. I believe that would be in anatomy field of science, and eating habits is in psychology. Could microbes effect both body and mind?

[@ROO1998JS]

super interesting :D I cant believe they are so important

[@user-sd2yy7vo6x]

Hi Rob .How is the GMO (DNA transcribed into GM) mrna injected into us going to effect( modify) us with this in mind?

[@jokeasjes]

Hartstikke interessant

[@bluebonbon22]

Wish he went into more details about antibiotics early in life and obesity.

[@LemonNation]

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

[@Emiliapocalypse]

LemonNation yep. Wanna come over for dinner? 🍴

[@bcjustgreen]

Is it possible that our genes and microbes are correlated with each other? This is a great talk; accent is not supposed to be a major focus.

[@devbachu7072]

Agree boss thanks

[@thomasyamaguchi6434]

This is Cool!!

[@izak-jn3vi]

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.

[@ubu6949]

i. zak Why do you say fermented foods are aerobic? I ferment vegetables in anaerobic jars. I don't think probiotics are useless, especially added to fermented foods.

[@jaimebenito620]

Maybe a different accent would have been more pleasant to my ears, but in any case, I would gladly listen to this guy talking for hours, if the content delivered is as informative and fascinating as this little presentation... regardless of how technical it is. This is really an enthralling glimpse on something I have suspected for a long time, but with key figures whose magnitude I could have never guessed correctly (except by sheer luck). I wonder how many people realise the importance of these findings, even if the results can be improved to the point of resulting in radically different figures. Ineffable is really the only appropriate word that comes to mind when trying to describe this study.

[@dwaynecoker5040]

you'll love readying this blog then coolinginflammation.blogspot.co.nz/

[@Krillep]

But what do you have to do to get healthy microbes? Is it some food, or do you need take it as transplanation?

[@dwaynecoker5040]

Krillep according to the cooling inflammation blog. Fermented foods and/or a fecal transplant will introduce the missing microbes/gut flora.

[@cookforyourlife787]

Krillep Fermented foods are great but you should also be taking probiotics; this will introduce healthy gut flora back in to your system. Other helpful suggestions to promote healthy microbes in your gut would be to avoid/eliminate sugar, refined/processed food, wheat, dairy, food additives and preservatives and focus on whole, natural, good quality foods :).

[@cookforyourlife787]

Dwayne Coker I happen to really like Genestra's Human Micro Flora (HMF powder). Genestra is very reputable and a well trusted name. Metagenics also produces some really good quality probiotics.

[@rahn45]

To elaborate on his point that autism and gut bacteria might have a relation, is that there's some evidence to suggest that when a young child gets sick and is bombarded with antibiotics to combat the illness, their gut bacteria is severely disrupted; and that in certain cases one of the gut bacteria that comes to dominate the gut produces neuro-toxins as a waste product. As a result that child will develop autism due to the neuro-toxin inhibiting the brain's development and function. Another further correlation is that autism rates are higher in first world nations: Countries that have high antibiotic use.

[@ashramsidali2541]

rahn45

[@amanwithhiscigaretteandcof3474]

wow..

[@johnmuller7628]

Fascinating.I was adopted and it must have been a c-section because I have an overwhelming desire to coat myself in vaginal juices. Lol. Where can I follow up on continued research that you are developing?

[@SleepyCity0001]

john muller lmfao!

[@davidstar2362]

Detroit Michigan 48221. Thank you very much. I sub, liked and commented : Video paid for.

[@MonkeyKong21]

you can buy yogurt with beneficial microbes but the microbes were selected by the yogurt company so that they have to keep being replenished by eating their yogurt on a regular basis

[@MonkeyKong21]

***** Yep, it's called Danone Activia and it says everything that I said right on its box

[@sbsman4998]

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?

[@1964TP]

If your oral microbes are important then what does mouth wash, and teeth brushing have to do with it? Does alcohol kill those microbes?

[@ubu6949]

1964TP I know fungus cannot thrive in sodium bicarbonate. As for alcohol, all fermented foods contain it. I think it is beneficial to us in small amounts.

[@5jjt]

Hi Hannah!

[@josephpeters5681]

Is it possible to attract mirobs with different energy levels? (Electricity)

[@milenadeltorto2324]

Great question.

[@Daedhart]

This is good news. It seems absurd to think about microscopic creatures as having any impact on our lives just as it was absurd that we could detect exoplanets 10 years ago. Its time for the absurd to become reality.

[@leoerickson980]

*frantically modifies a t-shirt cannon to shoot gut bacteria stool sample collection kits*

[@VeganOstomy]

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?

[@druegnor]

+Vegan Ostomy you are mistaken. Vast majority of microbes does not live only in colon. They live in the intestinal part of the body. You might lose your colon bacteria, but there are still intestinal bacteria. Look up on Gut-Bacteria.

[@perets006]

if would lost your colon before your birth, the consequences were far more serious

[@emptyskullify]

WHAT ACCENT IS THAT?? Its like an amalgam of the Australian and Irish accent, or an amalgam of an Australian and American accent. I MUST KNOW!!! XD

[@mhtinla]

NZ

[@tdreamgmail]

I thought there was a hint of irish in there too.

[@TheBigwadey]

It's a type of NZ accent from the deep south.

[@MisterF_1984]

***** you're the worst troll ever.

[@mixey01]

There's a saying "Microbes rule the World"

Looking for an educated answer for a question, please no highly speculative wishful thinking. If the Microbiota is so important to our immunity, mental health/mood, nutrient absorption, metabolism etc. and the vast majority of the microflora reside in the large intestine, why is it that people who have had their large intestine completely removed are able to live nearly normal lives enjoying many foods, not needing to live in germ free bubbles? Also note that they don't suddenly develope mental disabilities or other disease states attributed to poor gut flora?? I ask this because I have a personal interest in the topic as my health is at risk. Thank you in advance to all.

[@sweetg3377]

So how do we take care of our gut bacteria?

[@DeoMachina]

Yoo, that's pretty crazy. I wonder just how much of our behaviour might be influenced by microbes?

[@naturehacker1095]

I'm a microbe and I made my host type this comment. :)

[@jimkosglow692]

Jim Kosglow: Here's another excellent overview video about the urgency of understanding the brain-gut connection: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZmUhKOnZ6-tiKs

[@honeybunny8894]

and it means that "who we are" visually is only 10% of who we are really....🤔

[@viermedepamant]

What about the microbiom from the lungs?I read that we have bacteria in the lungs also!

[@djjohnnytreble-drumandbass3849]

Lungs are apart of your skin.

[@TheDrunkardHu]

awesome! if you need a test subject, i could use some healthy microbes!

[@TheDrunkardHu]

***** OOHH SNAP! nice one!

[@Sprossenzuechter]

Now THAT'S why kissing is healthy!

[@MythHorse213]

not all children get these childhood diseases due to birth by c-section. My daughter has none and was valedictorian of her class, on the deans' list for college. No asthma, No diabetics, No obesity. My family does have a history of Type 2 Diabetic in some members. If you had an emergency C-Section don't feel bad, this doesn't apply to all children. I did breastfeed for a year after birth which helps with immunity.

[@tiffany5333]

nobody fucking said that, that is obvious.

[@medicalpanorama]

It is still possible to re-build ones gut habitat later in life.

[@mattstofko7797]

Do dental X rays kill the mouth microbiome?

[@perets006]

it is more dangerous for you than for your microbes....they can be recovered more quickly than your cells

[@yasmina_reads]

How would you physically coat the child in vaginal fluids after birth from via a c-section??

[@obsideonyx7604]

Drain their mother of vajayjay juice and rub it all over the baby's body?

[@obsideonyx7604]

DahBjorn "Do you take a hundred cotton swabs, dip it in your wife, and then smear it on your child?" YES! YES GOD DAMMIT DIDN'T YOU SEE MY COMMENT?!?!

[@DahBjorn]

Mhlonishwa Ngcamphalala Yea... "Drain their mother of vajayjay juice" sounds a little more brutal than cotton swabs...and how would you go about draining someone of vagina juice anyway? Regardless, I was commenting on what Mina d said.

[@embriettehyde8048]

It is neither vaginal draining nor the use of swabs, though swabs are closer to the truth. Rather, this is a procedure that uses sterile gauzes, which are folded like tampons and introduced into the mother's birth canal before the c-section takes place. The gauze is then extracted right before the c-section and immediately rubbed over the baby after it is born. This is a procedure that is being utilized in several hospitals, and the effects of this method on the microbiome and how successful it is are being studied extensively by Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello at NYU: medicine.med.nyu.edu/clinicalpharm/research/dominguez-bello-lab There is also a really cool documentary about the entire subject as a whole: microbirth.com/

[@DahBjorn]

Embriette Hyde Thank you, that was very informative. A quick rub-down with gauze actually sounds far less wierd as well, somehow. Thanks for the links as well :)

[@robinbreeds9217]

why o why is no Doctor talking about this in my local surgery

[@chich1344]

Why would they? Its all about the money, the more sick we are the more money they make :D

[@josemanuelarvide2712]

It amazing how the technology and science is moving so fast in this arena... today we can find supplements with metabolites with companies like Sanki, for anyone interested in this unique product you can visit sankibalance.com ....

[@corazon5300]

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

[@PixelPhobiac]

Bioinformatics, woop woop!

[@anton-ello]

They can use ecoli and salmonella to eat away at tumors as well.

[@melissaoosthuizen3467]

he couldve made this speech 5 minutes long

[@finlaar11]

Great talk but his accent messes with my brain...

[@zainjafry2658]

thumbs up if mary making u watch this

[@obsideonyx7604]

*Slow clap*

[@bennybennyta]

Who's here because of MIC301?

[@whitehole8155]

TRAVAIL D'SVT VOUS ÊTES LÀ

[@MisterF_1984]

WHAT IS THIS ACCENT?!!!

[@MisterF_1984]

Sounds like someone who lived in New Zealand for their early life, then lived in the USA for quite a while but got a blocked nose just before shooting this video.

[@sugboboy]

Microbes are ubiquitous!!!

[@dennisboyd1712]

WOW How Healthy would we be if we damage our gut microbes with all the Glyphosate we eat each day.

[@johncronin7481]

Eat horseradish with every meal

[@dharma2025]

Do vaccinations have any effect on the microbiome of a person? If so, what?

[@yogayantra]

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.

[@SleepyCity0001]

yogayantra Dominique I agree. But what do you think an alternative is?

[@johnmarstonlives]

Eating a nice juicy steak right now

[@CorDeGeleia]

diet has a deep effect on the microbiome of your gut, but microbiome of your gut also has a deep effect on the food you crave. Is a vicious circle

[@leighedwards]

Microbes 10 to 1 human cell is just plain wrong - more like 1.3 to 1. And it's not 3Ib more like 200g.

[@ductuslupus87]

This guy has the weirdest fucking accent I've ever heard. Interesting Talk, though.

[@Semibiased]

He's from New Zealand

[@thomastreadwell6426]

Kiwi here. I was also immediately thrown by the accent. He's got a Kiwi twang but there's definitely something really unusual about that accent

[@dwaynecoker5040]

Thomas Treadwell I'm a Kiwi too. I agree, kiwi accent but mixed with something else. I read on his bio that he has been in the States for a while, so probably Kiwi/American accent

[@ashramsidali2541]

Dwayne Coker

[@roxxyfakename]

Ooooch. Just couldnt deliver on those jokes... Might have been less awkward to watch the first time if he didnt attempt humor. Good talk though, really interesting.

[@timmythistle6615]

This is bulllshit. I'm a C-sections and so is my brother and two other people I know and we're all lean. Also a bit harsh down grading C-section because us C-sections never had a choice in the matter on how we were to be born and can't do anything about it at all.

[@jasonlee5953]

Definitely not offended there tjom 😂

[@mistatrollge3184]

Natural births are better. Regardless.

[@the_good_citizen]

His voice is so monotonous. I slept thru all of it🙄