Concept

The combination of arts and science captures our imaginations with compelling narratives of initiative and innovation. People go beyond traditional ways to work in whatever medium best fits their skills and messages. By rooting stories in authenticity, people can spark emotion and action, transmit values and information, foster collaboration, and invent the future.

Lifeforms inhabiting the surface of our bodies need a form of communication for people to understand the information those lifeforms contained. What if we can hear the physical attributes of a microbiota? Music, as a universal language, suggests a certain wholeness. Sonification of the microbiome is an attempt to engage the public and provide a better understanding of the random nature of gene expression, cellular changes, and bacterial evolutions. Such an undertaking can bring personal understanding to what is going on with the surface of our bodies.

The human microbiome

In the mirror, we all see ourselves as one whole, individual organism. Wave at your reflection. Smile. Wiggle your ears. This is who you recognize as ‘you’; but, this perspective overlooks the trillions of bacteria that live on and inside you, your microbiome. The earth is teeming with bacteria and other microorganisms, but the place with the highest density in right in your gut, the human colon.

So, what are all these organisms doing in your body, and how are you connected? The answers are still being explored by researchers today, but the recent studies have come to exciting conclusions. In studying the microbiome, scientists have bred a mouse strain without one, a blank slate upon which to observe phenotypes of different gut profiles. Experiments involve the transfer of fecal matter containing a sample of a microbial ecosystem, which comes from another mouse categorized as having some specific trait. In one study, shy mice donated stool to microbiome-deficient mice; and, extraordinarily, the recipient mice took on those personality traits as well.

In humans, similar studies are conducted, with equally exciting findings. For instance, the tendency towards overweightness or obesity can also be influenced by your microbiota, as well as countless other complex phenotypes. The connection underlying these connections has been dubbed the “brain-gut-microbiota axis,” composed of the vagus nerve, immune system, and more.

Enthusiasm over these findings has already led to visions of a whole new pathway for medical therapy; one of them is OpenBiome, a nonprofit stool bank, which gathers interesting and healthy samples from individuals to support research into microbiota and fecal microbiota transplants (FMT). Provided you pass the rigorous screenings to ensure your sample is uncontaminated and healthy enough to be of use to the medical community, you could find yourself a part of this movement too and donate your stool over the course of 60 days!

What if you could make music from your microbiota?

That’s what our community biology lab at EMW Street Bio wanted to find out. Our team has built a record player called Biota Beats that can hold a petri dish plated with cultures from the human microbiome. Currently, a still image is taken of the colonies and translated into sound by a program coded by one of our teammates, but the ultimate vision for Biota Beats is real-time tracking of colonies and conversion of a video into sound.
With Biota Beats, you’ll be able to listen to music from different cultures!