Gene Editing

In the past 75 years, our way of life has transformed dramatically in every aspect. As industrialization spreads worldwide, we see a parallel rise in Western diseases. Conditions such as infectious diseases, hypertension, fatty liver disease, obesity, heart disease, anxiety, depression, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and cancer are emerging in younger populations with earlier onset. These are all connected and can be traced back to gut health.

The modern industrialized world is damaging our gut microbiome. While it has optimized the production of goods in vast quantities, this has come at a cost to our health. Our gut microbes play a crucial role in our well-being, influencing everything from our immune system to our central nervous system. Disrupting this delicate microbial community alters our body's biology, leading to disease. This trajectory is unsustainable.

For humanity to thrive, we must change our approach. The positive news is that we can heal our gut. To truly grasp the importance of the microbiome, we must look back to a time when the Earth was inhabited only by microbes. These early settlers, numbering in the trillions, developed complex communication and interactions over billions of years. As life became more complex, multicellular organisms like hydra emerged, relying on these microbes for digestion, which marks the beginning of our gut microbiome's story.

As humans spread across the world, their diets and lifestyles varied, creating a diverse and complex gut microbiome. This microbiome, found throughout the digestive tract but concentrated in the colon, consists of trillions of microbes and hundreds of species, working together to process nutrients. The human genome represents only 1% of our total genetic material, with the microbiome accounting for the remaining 99%, which is not fixed at birth but evolves throughout life.

At birth, humans are largely devoid of microbes and are colonized through interactions like birth method and feeding type. Complex carbohydrates, found in foods like berries, nuts, and seeds, are essential for a healthy microbiome. These foods contain fibers and polyphenols that our microbes help break down into anti-inflammatory substances that benefit the entire body, including the brain.

A diverse and rich diet is key to a healthy microbiome. The shift to processed foods, which began with cooking and agricultural practices, has reduced the variety of foods we consume. Fermented foods, which support gut health, have become less common, and industrial processes have simplified the bacterial content in foods like yogurt, sacrificing complexity for speed.

The gut does much more than digest food. Microbes in our gut produce enzymes, neurotransmitters, and hormones that affect our mood, behavior, and overall health. Since World War II, industrial agriculture and ultra-processed foods have introduced chemicals and substances our microbes have never encountered, leading to a significant decline in biodiversity. While hunter-gatherer populations might have 750 different microbial species, the average Californian has only about 250. This loss of biodiversity correlates with the rise of chronic diseases in the Western world, which are linked to a disrupted microbiome.

The modern industrialized world is not conducive to gut health, but the good news is that we have the power to change our microbiome and, in turn, our health.