TRAIN Scholar James Head's Blog

 I have been really looking forward to today to hear about everyone's projects. I learned some interesting things. People get more depressed about Covid than cancer. Plants that could heal me could kill my dog. There is a math formula for everything, even how generous a person should  be. The struggles of wealth inequality go back a very long time. Bats laugh in the face of cancer. There is a waste gyre 3 times the size of France. Honeybees, who are essential to our food production, are in danger. Lastly, video games are being looked at as a way to educate the otherwise uninterested youth. I had so much fun listening to all of it. Mostly, I liked being connected to all the amazing people.

 As I was putting together my presentation, it brought great joy to go over everything I experienced this semester. I had health issues that started just before the semester and are still ongoing. I've been in a great deal of pain these last few months and have had difficulty focusing on anything. I kept telling myself "If you were smart you would take the semester off to heal." But, I really did not want to miss out on anything. It was really very  hard, but I am glad I stuck it out. In the end it was worth it. I met such amazing people and learned some wonderful things. I have a surgery coming up over the break, and with some of the classes going back to in-person in the fall, I think things will get even better. There is so much I want to share during my presentation that I fear it will be too long. I may have to talk very fast, or cut out a few things, but I feel it is all worth sharing. I am looking forward mostly to hearing the other presentations to find out what f

 Although there is still debate on the proper definition, postbiotics are essentially the metabolites, the "waste" produced by microbes. Postbiotics are another approach to medical care via microbes. The idea is that one of the ways our microbes support us is by producing these metabolites, which we then absorb and put to our own use. We can cut out the middle man, so to speak, and just take a pill with the metabolites, instead of trying to foster the producing bacteria.  As we gain understanding in what is produced, and their effects, these postbiotics should gain in popularity in medical use. The effects would most likely be much faster than trying to take probiotics. This could prove to be extremely  useful in urgent care. The down side is that the effects last only as long as you take the pills, where as fostering the microbes is a much more long term solution. The postbiotics could get us by until our new microbes have taken hold.  Another use is to feed our microbes, mu