The Social Life of the Microbiome
We set out to understand the social life of the microbiome...
What do people outside science understand this entity to be?
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With this in mind, we made this website for public audiences to learn about microbiome science and what Science and Technology Scholars and Anthropologists of Science have to say about it.
It's a work in progress and an experiment in communicating research to the public.
about us
sandra widmer
PhD, Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
York University
Toronto, Canada
Massima A.
BSc, MA Student
Department of Anthropology
York University
Toronto, Canada
In my SSHRC funded project “Eating for Trillions: The Social Life of Direct to Consumer Microbiome Tests”, I am exploring how the scientific concept of the “human microbiome” is taken up in digital health and food cultures of fermentation. I am increasingly interested in how "the brain-gut connection" is mobilized by health practitioners and parents.
This DTC microbiome test is also a way into understanding the growth of personalized nutrition profiles in precision medicine and the financialization of health in Canada.
As a research assistant on "Eating for Trillions", Sandra and I have been enthralled by the connections we drew between microbiome science and technologies, and the perspectives from anthropology and STS that contextualize them.
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This website is our opportunity to share our findings from this research.