Belly Button Biodiversity
To be filed under You’ve Got To be Bloody ‘Avin’ A Larf. Cutting edge research from one of nature’s true biodiversity hotspots:
You are alive, but just how alive? We know that species live under our beds or in our backyards. But how many living organisms are on a square centimeter of your skin? What do they do, and how they differ from those of your neighbor? Very little is known about the life that breathes all over us. Each person’s microbial jungle is so rich, colorful, and dynamic that in all likelihood your body hosts species that no scientist has ever studied. Your navel may well be one of the last biological frontiers.
That’s right…there really is a website called Belly Button Biodiversity. It’s a collaboration between the North Carolina State University and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, so our US readers here will be delighted to see their Obama stimulus dollars at work.
The sample illustrated here (yes, they have a Gallery. Did you have to ask?) is from one Meg Lowman, NC Nature Research Center Director…who is now right off the Christmas card list.
For really rather scary discussion about where the data could lead, visit Rob Dunn’s (one of the researchers) website. His post, including the comments, hint darkly at how much there is still to learn about this final frontier.
Also straight off the Christmas card list (and indeed any form of contact) is “Nicole” from the comments who muses “I wonder if there is a correlation between population size (or content) and belly hair. I’ve noticed that some of my hairier friends are more likely to get belly button lint… would that be a contributing factor?“
One of the more disturbing finds has been a resident beetle.
Enough, already.
You’re probably no aware of it. Scientists are taking navel-gazing to another level. Belly buttons could be hot and ticklish. The reality is that not everyone goes in there with soap, baby oil and Q-Tips. Belly button Diversity project researchers welcome the grime, as your navel bacteria tells a story. It’s a true story about divergent evolution, and it’s a page-turner. I read this here: New belly button bacteria furthers study of evolution.
You’re probably no aware of it. Scientists are taking navel-gazing to another level. Belly buttons could be hot and ticklish. The reality is that not everyone goes in there with soap, baby oil and Q-Tips. Belly button Diversity project researchers welcome the grime, as your navel bacteria tells a story. It’s a true story about divergent evolution, and it’s a page-turner. I read this here: New belly button bacteria furthers study of evolution.
You’re probably no aware of it. Scientists are taking navel-gazing to another level. Belly buttons could be hot and ticklish. The reality is that not everyone goes in there with soap, baby oil and Q-Tips. Belly button Diversity project researchers welcome the grime, as your navel bacteria tells a story. It’s a true story about divergent evolution, and it’s a page-turner. I read this here: New belly button bacteria furthers study of evolution.
You’re probably no aware of it. Scientists are taking navel-gazing to another level. Belly buttons could be hot and ticklish. The reality is that not everyone goes in there with soap, baby oil and Q-Tips. Belly button Diversity project researchers welcome the grime, as your navel bacteria tells a story. It’s a true story about divergent evolution, and it’s a page-turner. I read this here: New belly button bacteria furthers study of evolution.
You’re probably no aware of it. Scientists are taking navel-gazing to another level. Belly buttons could be hot and ticklish. The reality is that not everyone goes in there with soap, baby oil and Q-Tips. Belly button Diversity project researchers welcome the grime, as your navel bacteria tells a story. It’s a true story about divergent evolution, and it’s a page-turner. I read this here: New belly button bacteria furthers study of evolution.