What's Going on in the Genomics & Microbiology Research Lab?

What does your ear wax say about you?
Citizen science opportunity
Do microbes help with wound healing?
Citizen science project with canine participants to evaluate microbes before and after surgery.
Do your microbes control who you like?
Scent is a powerful communicator and your body odor is mostly coming from your microbes.
Can microbes affect our behavior?
Studies in Rhesus Macaques look at microbes, genetics, and behavior.

Microbes from the outer ear of Participant ABCC116 - Genotype TBD

Meet Your Microbes

If you swabbed a body part at one of our events and received an ID number, here’s where you can find your plate. It typically takes at least a week after an event for plate images to appear here.

Cheese Board

Cheese Microbes

  • What's in the cheese? Identify microbes involved in converting milk to different types of cheese. How might they affect the flavors and smells and how can they benefit us?
  • What's your favorite cheese? Citizen science opportunity - learn more here!

Fermented Food Project

Fermented Food Microbes

  • Harnessing the power of microorganisms! Humans have harnessed the power of microbes to ferment foods for thousands of years. We are exploring the science of the fermentation process.
  • All of our workshops are complete.

Armpit and ear wax project

Armpit & Earwax Microbe Project

We are looking for participants to be sampled for an exciting project linking human genetic variation to skin microbes on various body sites: armpits, ears, noses, and ankles. Our big goal is to determine if and how variation in a gene called ABCC11 impacts skin bacteria on humans.