WEBVTT - How Clean Should We Be? 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.520 Guess what mango? What's that will? So I was traveling 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:04.640 last week and as I go through security, I'm waiting 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:06.400 on my bag to be scanned, and I catch this 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.680 strong whiff of pure and it reminded me to pull 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:12.240 mine out, because there's something about all this stuff going 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.560 in and out of bins that really grosses me out. 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.159 But then I realized mine wasn't on me. So I 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:18.439 looked at the end of the moving belt and I 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:20.880 saw there was a dispenser. I walk over and I 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.840 put some of that magic on my hands. Ten feet 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.960 after that, there was another dispenser. Suddenly I started noticing 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.640 these things everywhere I could have gone swimming, and all 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.760 the hand sanitizer available to me. It's something so present 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.640 in our lives. My son just calls it hand sand hands, 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.040 and I hope that takes off me too. And it 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.720 made me wonder how did hand sanitizer becomes such a thing. 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:42.639 And it turns out it goes all the way back 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.000 to this woman named Goldie Lippmann who worked at a 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.800 rubber plant in the forties. At the time, workers would 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.360 use benzine to get carbon off their hands, which is 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.440 super harsh. So Goldie and her husband Jerry, invented a 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.319 more gentle, waterless cleaner. It's this classic startup story. They 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.880 lived in their parents attict. They mixed up test batches 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:02.720 and the laundry machine, and then they packaged it in 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:07.360 pickle jars. That's right, so artisical, I know. But then 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.080 they tried to sell the stuff and it didn't go 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:11.919 so well. How come? Well, no one wanted to try 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:15.280 this goopy stuff, So Jerry came up with a sales trick. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.520 Just before meeting. He scored a little dab on his palm. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.080 Then when someone would shake his hand, they'd get startled 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.880 because who wants to feel this cold, wet glob and 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:28.040 a handshake. It's pretty gross, I know. But as they 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.559 rubbed it to get it off, the factory stains would 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:33.920 vanish from inside their palms, which I guess. It's pretty smart. 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.360 It's genius, I think. And so this is the proto 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:40.600 purell and today hand sanitizers are everywhere, But looking at 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.680 all the hands sand around us, it got me wondering 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.240 are we being overprotective? How clean should we be? And 0:01:46.240 --> 0:02:01.720 that's the question we're tackling on Today's Part Time Genius 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.120 Say their podcast listeners, I'm Will Pearson and as always 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.240 I'm joined by my good friend man Gesh Ticketer, and 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.040 you're listening to part Time Genius now today I can 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.240 barely recognize man Gesh because he's currently wrapped in plastic 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.240 wrapped from the office kitchen. Any reeks of hand sanitizers? 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.160 Did I used too much? I mean, maybe a little. Well, 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.600 I know Purell is more your thing, but ever since 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.960 doing all this research on germs this week, I think 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.800 of making it my signature scent. Like how prints always 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.280 smell like lavender. I can't say that I was aware 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.359 of that. Yeah, used to smell like heavy, heavy lavender, 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.000 and his friends used to say that they could smell 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.160 his presence like a full minute before he entered the room. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.200 So you'd be sitting there and you'd feel this hit 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.240 of lavender and then oh, you can just appear like 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.120 an angel. Anyway, after this week, I'm thinking of doing 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.040 that with Purel. I think that's a that's a brilliant plan, Mango. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:54.320 But you know what's interesting, and I realized we're going 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.400 deep on hand sanitizer before this episode even starts. But 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.680 one of the things customers always indicate is a preference 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:04.720 for unscented sanitizers, but when hand sanitizer companies came out 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.400 with more a few years ago, not only did customers 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.560 not by the fragrance reversions, but there was concern in 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.160 the health community that people weren't applying enough of it 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.520 to really kill the germs. Well, I'm pretty sure I 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.240 use enough of it. I would agree with that. But 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.680 speaking of our research this week, we were reminded yet 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.679 again that science is weird because it feels like we're 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.680 always reading these contradictory reports. It's healthy to drink wine 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.919 one week, then it's not healthy to drink wine. It's 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.760 healthy to drink coffee, it's not healthy to drink coffee. 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.000 You know, it turns out it's not healthy to smoke 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.760 a bucket full of cigarettes. That that is how they 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:39.800 sell cigarettes now today. Still, yeah, you want to get 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.080 them by the top, that's the super cool thing to do. 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.240 And it feels like studies on germs are the same way. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:47.920 I mean, we know it's good to be clean, but 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:50.280 we also hear reports that tell us to quit trying 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.880 to kill every germ out there. Speaking of which, before 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.560 we fully dive into this, I know we can both 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.680 be a little germophobic, mango, But what's one thing you 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.440 do it was a germophobe that you'd be embarrassed to admit. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.280 I know. For me, it's that as soon as I 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.880 walk into a hotel room, I look for the free 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.360 shower cap and the bathroom or the plastic bag and 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.840 the ice bucket to slip over the remote control so 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:16.000 like a remote control condom. Oh yeah, I love it. 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.400 So we've known each other for almost twenty years now, 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.720 and I'm not sure you know this, but I won't 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.320 take a sip out of a drink someone else has 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:26.000 been drinking from. I know. And it's not just germophobic, 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.040 it's cultural. Like in India, the tap water is un drinkable, 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.840 so families tend to keep big glass bottles filled with 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.560 purified water on tables. They're communal and they're just filled 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.640 and ready to drink from. So it's a four year 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.599 old you learned to pour water from one or two 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.000 inches above your mouth, so you're never actually touching your 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.160 lips to it. And it's all because you don't want 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.719 to spread germs, Like if you've touched your lips to it, 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.560 then you've ruined it for everyone else. But and this 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:52.160 is the weird part, and it's hard for me to 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.760 say out loud, but even if my wife sees me 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.960 drinking a bottle of root beer and just takes a swig, 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:00.400 I can't drink it out, Like I really can't drink it. 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.000 I have to force myself. And so that's my big secret. 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.440 Like my sister and I both, it's this weird mixture 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:10.160 of like Indian politeness and germophoben nous and sort of 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.520 where those things then diagram. I think this is really 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.719 the kind of thing you shouldn't admit, not because it's 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.400 that embarrassing, but because friends love to mess with you 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.600 on things like this. It's like when friends find out 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:21.640 that I can't stand for my nose to be touched. 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.000 It makes me dizzy, and then they just think it's 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.919 so funny to walk up and tappy right on the 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.279 button knows that's right now. We also wanted our podcast 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.239 listeners to share some of their more embarrassing germophobic moments 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.640 on Facebook. So if you're up for sharing, contribute your 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.200 story to our Facebook page and we'll be mailing out 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.279 a big and ridiculous prize to our favorite three stories. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.120 What What what's the prize again, I can't tell you. 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.039 This is gonna be huge, so big can't win. But 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.839 let's talk about this recent cover story and New Scientists. 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.840 You know this is one of my favorite magazines. I mean, honestly, 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.120 how many times a day do I mention my love 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:58.840 of New Scientists? Conservatively, maybe I'd say at least yeah. 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:02.039 So Penny Sarche, a biomedical news editor for New Scientists, 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.400 which we've established I love, and who's going to be 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.800 joining us a little later today, wrote a story titled 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.040 Germ Warfare, and and it she talks about this struggle 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.560 of trying to figure out how clean is too clean, 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.640 because we know good hygiene helps prevent infection and the 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.680 spread of disease, but we also know they're definitely good 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.280 bacteria that keep us well. But let's back up a 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.960 little bit. So in the late eighties and early nineties, 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.599 many researchers really started to get behind the theory that 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.600 kids were developing allergies later because they were avoiding so 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.479 many infections early in life, and they had plenty of 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.240 evidence to point to like kids are less likely to 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:38.040 develop allergies or asthma if they grew up on a farm, 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.159 or grew up with a dog, or if their parents 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.119 washed dishes by hand. I mean, we're a dishwasher family. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.880 Some white kids are screwed. Definitely us too. But oh, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:47.520 here's a really gross one. Are you ready for this? 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:49.880 You might want to gargle a little more purele before 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.159 I read this up. So Sarch says a two thousand 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.960 fourteen paper that found that children are less likely to 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.599 develop precursors to asthma if in their first year they're 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:04.400 exposed to particles from cats, mice, and cockroaches. It makes 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.599 you wonder if they'll eventually develop a powder made of 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.040 cat hair, mice tails, and cockroach faces that you sprinkle 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.040 on your kid. Cockroach faces. I don't know why it 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:14.600 has to be faces, but it just seemed all of 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.360 it was gross. We can't even imagine that. Actually, I 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.440 read this piece in the l A Times about Amish 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.800 families and their homes because the kids tend to have 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.880 considerably less asthma. And scientists actually took dust from regular 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.760 homes and then dust from Amish households, and when they 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.680 sprinkled the Amish dust in front of mice's noses, it 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:35.120 tended to protect the mice's airways from allergens, which is 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.880 so crazy, so amish dust. It's like a new business idea, 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.480 we are going to be so rich. Actually, do you 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.080 know who was really dirty and probably didn't have much 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.480 as I can't wait for the answer on this one. 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.400 What a setup, right? For some reason I got stuck 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.520 in a rabbit hole about royalty and according to the economist, 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.880 kings from France and England in the fifteen hundreds and 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.560 sixteen hundreds were the dirtiest, like they believe hot water 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:02.880 was the devil and that they could open up your 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.880 pores and let all sorts of illness in. So here. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.800 A few stories I found like Francis Henry the fourth 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:15.160 famously stunk of quote sweat stables feet and Garland Louis 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.760 the eighth didn't have his first bath until he was seven. 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:22.280 Oh God, Versailles for all the glamorous laboratories, like washing 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.080 with water wasn't even a concern. And England's James the 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:29.240 First never bathe. He only washed his fingertips, just just 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.520 the tips. That is so gross. But unfortunately, being healthy 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.160 and living forever isn't as simple as just saying okay, 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:37.840 let's be dirtier. But before we dig into that, how 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:48.440 about we break for a quiz. Sounds smart, So, Mengo, 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:49.920 who do we have on the line to play today? 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.679 So he's got two lab scientists. Their names are Bertha 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:59.080 and Umish, and Umish is a special guest. That's right, Mash, 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:03.600 Welcome to the show. Oh, thank you. So you knows 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.920 was a chemical engineer who worked on several agriculture products 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.640 over the years. But I heard that you actually first 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.160 got interested in chemistry and experiments by baking bread with 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.160 your dad as a kid in India. Is this true? 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.000 Or is Mango just making stuff up as usual? You 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.000 used to make the cloth and we had to modify 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.520 it for gluten and other things to make it sure 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.640 it rose and reacted to the east. That's wonderful, that's 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:29.400 really neat. What a great way to be introduced to 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.520 the science. Is so. And our second guest, Bertha is 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:38.160 at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Bertha, Welcome to the show. Hi, 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.120 thanks for having me. Tell us a little bit what 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.480 you do at U A B. So, I'm a genetic 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:47.560 epigeeologist and um that does not mean that I study 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:54.240 skin diseases. I study genetics and um type two diabetes 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:56.719 and a b CD and cardiovascular disease, and try and 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:00.679 figure out what environmental exposures can change some of our 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.000 genetic outcomes. Oh wow, very cool. Yeah, we do the 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.960 same thing, but Mango and I are both really into 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:10.840 that kind of expert on the side. Yeah, speaking of 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.320 on the side, I understand that when you first got 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.440 into the field, you weren't quite making enough money to 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.240 make ends meet, so you would ballroom dance to bring 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.720 in additional money. Is this true? I did? I am 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:29.440 responsible for many a wedding first dance choreography. Yes, yeah, 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.560 it was a lot of fun. Well cool, Well best 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.480 the best science is very collaborative science. So we've decided 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:36.480 to let you to team up for this quiz. Now 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:38.560 what are we playing, Mengo. We're playing a game called 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.480 clean Sweep. Okay, all right, Now, normally we would try 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.839 to make some sort of tangential connection, like being lab scientists, 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.760 you're very good at sanitizing things. But we want to 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:50.439 be honest with you here. We just found a lot 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.240 of words that rhymed with clean and turned them into 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.920 quiz questions. So this is how it works. We're going 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.160 to give you a clue, and then you say the 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:03.360 word clean before the example. So this is so stupid, Mango. 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.160 You're the best at these awful cluses. Alright, so give 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.559 us a sample, Mango. So the reason we wear costumes 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:14.040 on October thirty one, you would say clean Halloween, right? 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.559 Or Elizabeth the second title in England, you might say 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.720 clean Queen? Right? All right? You guys that you guys 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.760 got it? Okay, so here we go. We're gonna let 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.200 you guys go one at a time, but you're working together, 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.040 and if one of you doesn't get it, you can 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.720 toss it to the other person. So, Bertha, we will 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.040 start with you. Question number one. A stretched out car 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:39.600 that glamorous people get to drive in. Oh uh, clean 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:44.680 limousine for one mesh an underwater vessel the Beatles sang 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:49.120 about you got it all right, Bertha. A jingle jangle 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.280 hand instrument. Bob Dylan asked a man to play in 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:56.720 the song Oh My Goodness and my Dad as a 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.880 backup singer in a Rolling Stones band and call it 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.559 might know this all right, let's hear it. It's a 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:08.480 jingle jangle hand instrument. It would be a clean tambourine 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:15.600 that's okay, alright, who matched? This is back to you 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.760 the thing you mix with ginger ale in a Shirley 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:24.360 Temple queen grenade felt their Bertha, Okay, this one's back 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.440 to you, alright. A character with adamantium clause from the 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:36.800 X Men. It's also the University of Michigan mascot. We're 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:38.840 just gonna throw them out. Let either one of you answer. 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.640 Here we go, number number six. You guys have gotten 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.560 five out of six, so you're in good shape. A 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:47.120 colorful easter candy, the Easter bunny might leave for you. 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.559 A colorful candy the Easter Bunny might leave for you. 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.520 You got it, Bertha, well done, alright. Question number seven 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.480 two left a method of execution that arose during the 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.360 French Revolution. The last time one was used and was 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:05.240 in France in nineteen seventy seven. Got a nice job, 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.120 last one, all right? Former star of Two and a 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:14.600 Half Men, brother to Amelio Estevez. Oh gosh, it's got 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:21.200 a dad named Martin. Yes, clean, Charlie Sheen, I don't 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:27.400 think really exists. So it's ath So how many do they? 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:29.560 How many they get? Right? Mango? So they got seven 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:31.080 out of eight and of course that means they win 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.760 the big prize, which is a note to your mom, 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.440 your boss written from us, which is, you know, finally 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.400 the validation you've been looking for. Wow, what a great prize. 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:54.439 Congratulations guys. So we're talking about the question how clean 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.040 is too clean? And before the break we were discussing 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:58.839 how a little more dirt in our lives might be 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.480 a key to healthier live thing. But for anyone who 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.839 heard that and decided to start licking the floor, pull 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.960 yourself together. It's a little more complicated than that, although 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:08.959 it is a little of that, right, Like, one of 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:11.600 the things I'm fascinated by is that we ingest fifty 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.360 to sixty milligrams of soil a day, and that little 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.160 bit of dirt might be helping us be healthier. Like, 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:21.240 scientists also think playing quote social sports can help and 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.240 will I know, we like to have debates about what 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.680 a sport is, like is Badman really a sports? Please 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.600 don't get me started off. I know you have some 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.440 super strong feelings. But what's important here is where we're 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.000 getting our daily bacteria from could actually play a big 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.120 role in our health, right, I mean, the reality is 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.600 some bacteria are good, some are bad. So it's more 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:45.440 about understanding our dada microbiome. Now you're probably wondering what 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.360 a microbiome is, And for the super condensed version, let's 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.600 turn to our microbiome correspondent. Oh wait, that's you. You're 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.320 you're a microbiome correspondent. Ban of congratulations. All right, okay, 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.160 talk to me. I can talk to microbiomes. So let's 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.280 stuff back as that. And we humans like to think 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.800 of ourselves as individuals, right, like we've got big egos. 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.240 But the truth is there as many non human cells 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.920 in our body as human cells, and because they're all 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.440 working with us, playing a vital role in our body's success, 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.640 in some ways, it's more important to think of your 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.800 body like a super organism, almost like a colony of 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:21.800 ants all working together, or even a slime mold, like 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.960 all pulling in one direction. I know it's gross, right, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.080 but that analogy doesn't even go far enough. In fact, 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.800 your body is more like a rainforest, and each of 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.440 the thousands of bacterial species inside you is precisely built 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.680 for a specific environment. Like the bacteria and your stomach 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.880 would die if it moved to your small intestine, and 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.160 the small intestine stuff would struggle if it was placed 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.640 in the big intestine. Like, it's actually that complicated. As 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.000 one of my science writer friends told me, humans are 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.600 more closely related to C squirts than these microbacteria are 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.720 to one another. Yeah, And another way to think about 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.040 how diverse your body is is to like take a 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.400 look at your left hand in your right hand. Your 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.640 hands feel like they should be the same, right, but 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.800 of the thousands of bacteria on there, your left hand 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.960 and right hand might only share one in six microbial species. 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:13.040 Like how bizarre is that crazy? Right? So scientists are 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:17.000 isolating these microbes and understanding their superpowers. They're also considering 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.760 how to hack the bacteria and use it to human advantage. 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.600 Like in Sweden, doctors at a hospital noticed that their 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:27.120 pneumonia patients were getting infections from feeding tubes and the 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.440 patients were having a harsh reaction to the antibacterial sprays. 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.160 So the doctors looked at this bacteria in your saliva 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:39.560 called lacto basilious plantarum, and it's this probiotic that helps 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.480 you break down food in your saliva. And when they 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.400 spread the culture inside their patients mounts and on the 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:49.480 feeding tubes, it actually stopped the infections like no side effects. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.800 So scientists have been using the Human Microbiome Project to 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.080 crack the code and map out all over microbiota. What 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.120 one crazy thing about microbiomes is that scientists used to 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.400 think that how bay bees were born might affect it, 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.320 like c sections. In particular, they thought might be creating 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.400 a different type and perhaps less healthy baby than straight 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.480 vaginal deliveries. But it turns out that isn't true. I 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.800 mean it's true initially, but by six weeks the differences 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.960 aren't even detectable, which is pretty crazy because kids aren't 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.879 crawling around then. But the colonies just grow so fast 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:21.600 in the mouth and on the skin and then the 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.400 gut that they don't need that much exposure to grow 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.200 these distinct colonies all over their bodies. I know, I 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.400 think if toddlers being dirty, but not really babies dirty babies. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.680 But the lesson is, in general, it's healthiest to have 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.600 a wider range of microbes. So it's not quite true 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.800 to say that getting more infections as a child makes 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.640 us healthier later. It's really the exposure to different bacteria, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:46.359 and almost exclusively exposure at a very early age. I mean, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.520 we're talking before the age of three, that's when it's 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:51.480 pretty much set. I mean, you know, as my mom 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.760 used to say, once your microbiome is set, your microbiome 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.440 is set. She's right, you gotta set in forget it 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.800 like a firm, not like a or permanent. As my 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.000 grandfather would say. People still get perms. That a thing 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.440 they will now, So that means the bad news for 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:09.879 all those who were excited to start skipping your chores 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.919 and stop washing your hands and bathing. It doesn't mean 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.359 you should stop doing any of those things. Well, one shore, 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.240 I mean, I've read a bunch of these reports and 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.840 they all said the same thing. Don't make your bed. 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:23.879 And can I tell you one thing, sure, I hate 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.760 this advice so much, like making my bed is the 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.359 one thing I do. It makes my room look orderly. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.440 But even though I hate saying this, an unmade bed 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.479 is healthier because it exposes the dust mites in your 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.879 bed sheets to sunlight and fresh air, which you know 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.400 kills them off and helps your allergies. Man, the kids 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.080 are going to really love this episode. So don't mother 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.480 making your bed. I'm behind that. But where should we 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.399 be cutting back? Now Here? A few places antibacterial soaps. 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.440 I mean, we've been seeing for a couple of decades 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.760 now that when we killed too much of the good bacteria, 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:59.600 the undesirable bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics, which could be dangerous. Also, 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:03.119 clean products indoor pollution from all the cleaning supplies and 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.800 chemicals in them. The most harmful ones are often the 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.399 ones being used just to produce a good smell, So 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.400 instead you should clean with things like vinegar and other 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.040 products that you'd feel comfortable cooking with. Yeah. So I 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.320 was actually looking into this because my family tries to 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.200 use mostly organic cleaning products for a kid's sake, And 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.119 when I was googling what you can do to reduce 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.440 the chemical sense in your home, one of the things 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:26.040 that comes up is a list of recommendations from NASA. 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.440 From NASA, Yeah, I just learned this, but every year 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.080 NASA issues a list of the best plants to help 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.119 purify your home, and they've been doing clear air studies 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:37.640 since the eighties because the agency wants to know what's 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:39.800 the best way to clean the air and space stations. 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.760 So this list of preferred plants as things like the 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.880 peace lily, which can eliminate traces of formaldehyde and benzene 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:51.159 and pneumonia. But it's also toxic to dogs, which is 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:53.960 kind of a big trade off, right, like peace dogs 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.359 between clear air and this plant. It's all plant. But 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:00.600 the crazier thing to me is this red inundation on 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.120 the ideal number of plants you should have in your house. 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.080 And can you guess what it is? I don't know. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:09.440 Four it's one plant for a hundred square feet. Like 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.440 I live in a tiny, super small apartment with a 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.640 wife and two kids, and now I have to share 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.320 it with a tiny forest, like just to breathe the air. 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:19.320 I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do. That's 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.679 so speaking of our homes and finding that perfect balance 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:27.240 of clean, Penny Sarchet describes a science approved hygiene sweet spot, 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.440 So that is, you're not looking to completely sterilize your home. 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.320 It's more about focusing on getting rid of harmful bacteria 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:36.320 in places. This bacteria is most likely to be in 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:40.200 places we come into contact with, so kitchen surfaces, door knobs, 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.560 bathroom light switches. But as long as we're talking about Penny, 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:44.800 what do you say? We get around the phone and 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:54.879 give her a little quiz and that sounds great. All right, 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:57.040 So we've been talking about new scientists a lot and 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.280