Your Microbiome: The Microscopic Creatures That Keep You Alive! episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 1, 2026 · 7 MIN

Your Microbiome: The Microscopic Creatures That Keep You Alive!

from Be Smart. · host Joe Hanson

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try Audible today: http://www.audible.com/ok “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong http://amzn.to/2aE5rlf ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart Learn more/references: Fujimura, Kei E., et al. "House dust exposure mediates gut microbiome Lactobacillus enrichment and airway immune defense against allergens and virus infection." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.2 (2014): 805-810. Strachan, David P. "Family size, infection and atopy: the first decade of the 'hygiene hypothesis'." Thorax 55.Suppl 1 (2000): S2. Gerrard, J. W., et al. "Serum IgE levels in white and metis communities in Saskatchewan." Annals of allergy 37.2 (1976): 91-100. Kuleshov, Volodymyr, et al. "Synthetic long-read sequencing reveals intraspecies diversity in the human microbiome." Nature biotechnology 34.1 (2016): 64-69. Li, Junhua, et al. "An integrated catalog of reference genes in the human gut microbiome." Nature biotechnology 32.8 (2014): 834-841. Elahi, Shokrollah, et al. "Immunosuppressive CD71+ erythroid cells compromise neonatal host defence against infection." Nature 504.7478 (2013): 158-162. Gibbons, Deena, et al. "Interleukin-8 (CXCL8) production is a signatory T cell effector function of human newborn infants." Nature medicine 20.10 (2014): 1206-1210. German, J., et al. "Human milk oligosaccharides: evolution, structures and bioselectivity as substrates for intestinal bacteria." Personalized Nutrition for the Diverse Needs of Infants and Children. Vol. 62. Karger Publishers, 2008. 205-222. Sela, D. A., et al. "The genome sequence of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis reveals adaptations for milk utilization within the infant microbiome."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105.48 (2008): 18964-18969. C-section statitics: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/health-at-a-glance-2015_health_glance-2015-en Kroiss, Johannes, et al. "Symbiotic streptomycetes provide antibiotic combination prophylaxis for wasp offspring." Nature Chemical Biology 6.4 (2010): 261-263. Zaneveld, Jesse, et al. "Host-bacterial coevolution and the search for new drug targets." Current opinion in chemical biology 12.1 (2008): 109-114. ---------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Snapchat: YoDrJoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try Audible today: http://www.audible.com/ok “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong http://amzn.to/2aE5rlf ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Get yourself an awesome IOTBS shirt! http://dftba.com/besmart Learn more/references: Fujimura, Kei E., et al. "House dust exposure mediates gut microbiome Lactobacillus enrichment and airway immune defense against allergens and virus infection." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.2 (2014): 805-810. Strachan, David P. "Family size, infection and atopy: the first decade of the 'hygiene hypothesis'." Thorax 55.Suppl 1 (2000): S2. Gerrard, J. W., et al. "Serum IgE levels in white and metis communities in Saskatchewan." Annals of allergy 37.2 (1976): 91-100. Kuleshov, Volodymyr, et al. "Synthetic long-read sequencing reveals intraspecies diversity in the human microbiome." Nature biotechnology 34.1 (2016): 64-69. Li, Junhua, et al. "An integrated catalog of reference genes in the human gut microbiome." Nature biotechnology 32.8 (2014): 834-841. Elahi, Shokrollah, et al. "Immunosuppressive CD71+ erythroid cells compromise neonatal host defence against infection." Nature 504.7478 (2013): 158-162. Gibbons, Deena, et al. "Interleukin-8 (CXCL8) production is a signatory T cell effector function of human newborn infants." Nature medicine 20.10 (2014): 1206-1210. German, J., et al. "Human milk oligosaccharides: evolution, structures and bioselectivity as substrates for intestinal bacteria." Personalized Nutrition for the Diverse Needs of Infants and Children. Vol. 62. Karger Publishers, 2008. 205-222. Sela, D. A., et al. "The genome sequence of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis reveals adaptations for milk utilization within the infant microbiome."Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105.48 (2008): 18964-18969. C-section statitics: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/health-at-a-glance-2015_health_glance-2015-en Kroiss, Johannes, et al. "Symbiotic streptomycetes provide antibiotic combination prophylaxis for wasp offspring." Nature Chemical Biology 6.4 (2010): 261-263. Zaneveld, Jesse, et al. "Host-bacterial coevolution and the search for new drug targets." Current opinion in chemical biology 12.1 (2008): 109-114. ---------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Snapchat: YoDrJoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Your Microbiome: The Microscopic Creatures That Keep You Alive!

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This episode was published on July 1, 2026.

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Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try Audible today: http://www.audible.com/ok “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong http://amzn.to/2aE5rlf ↓ More info and...

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