Microbiome

Let Your Gut Be Your Guide

The Zoe dietary app zeroes in on timing and food combinations to maximize wellness.

Debunker: The “5-Second Rule”

Sniffing Out Diseases

A telltale COVID-19 symptom underscores the scientific significance of smell—for both patients and practitioners.

Personalized Health Advice Every 60 Seconds

How I hacked my diet using a continuous blood-glucose monitor.

Holiday Gifts for Biohackers

Splice DNA. Live forever. Be merry.

The Latest Biotech Growth Market Might be Crap

There’s gold in your gut—and startups are mining it with microbiome science. The biggest hurdle? Stool doesn’t scale.

The FDA Banned These Chemicals — and They’re Still Everywhere

Antibacterial compounds are no longer in your hand soap, but they’re in your floors, your walls, and in your body. by Maryn McKenna

Machine Learning Illuminates the Body’s Dark Matter

A startup finds patterns that experts in personalized medicine say they couldn’t see before.

The Bugs that Give Wine Its Flavor

Can sequencing a vineyard’s microbiome make it possible to reverse engineer a fine wine?

So Should I Eat Apples, or Not?

Two different microbiome tests give me conflicting dietary advice. Only one lets me verify the science behind it.

When a Double-Chocolate Brownie is Better for You Than Quinoa

A $299 microbiome test from DayTwo turns up some counterintuitive dietary advice.

Brain Disorders May Start in the Gut — So Let’s Treat Them There

Dogfish sharks produce a remarkable antibacterial compound that might halt symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

What if Number 2 Makes You Number 1?

Elite athletes have a greater variety of bacteria in their guts than couch potatoes do, raising the prospect of “poop doping.”

Skinny Genes

Anorexia may originate in your gut and your DNA, not in fashion magazines. by Christina Farr