A “One Microbiome” approach in the classroom

Currently, topics such as microbiota have a large media impact, with the terms “microbiota” and “microbiome” often being used interchangeably. The term microbiota refers to the set of microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, protozoa, yeast, fungi and viruses) that naturally coexist with us. The microbiome could be defined as a complex network of interactions that these microorganisms create with our cells. It would be something like a microscopic ecosystem!

The teaching of microbiota takes place in classrooms of secondary science subjects while working with the content of microbiology. But understanding the microbiota and its functions globally requires the application of vision One health.

This vision is based on the assumption that animal health, environmental health and human health are interdependent. In this way, our health will depend on more factors than an active lifestyle and a healthy diet. The health of animals and our planet also plays a very important role. In short, it’s about elevating the concept of the microbiota from a global perspective because everything is connected.

Read more: If health doesn’t matter, why do we teach it piecemeal?

Teaching microbiota from the “One Health” vision.

We are superorganisms made up of millions of microbes from the outside. Understanding our body as a whole involves developing a systemic vision. This requires designing activities that will help understand the influence of factors from the three spheres One health (animal, environmental and human health), which connect them with the concept of microbiota. For this, we can present different real-life scenarios that involve human contact with animals and the environment.

We propose four steps to follow to create microbiota learning situations with this approach. A single microbiome:

1. Try to verify that microorganisms exist in different parts of the body.

Although the greatest microbial diversity is found in the colon and mouth, our microbes colonize many more parts of the body, such as the skin, vagina, respiratory tract, and even the uterus. Its diversity will largely depend on our relationship to the environment and its microbiota.

Experimental verification of this symbiosis between our body and microbes, as well as their distribution, is very simple. We’ll just need some culture dishes, some tampons and a volunteer to plant their “little tenants”. This will also allow us to understand that although each part of the body has its own microbiota, its effect on our body is systemic because it affects it as a whole.

2. Map the microorganisms in the body.

Creating these maps after performing an experiment helps students identify which parts of the body have microorganisms in addition to those they have already cultured. Using a color code, they can distinguish between beneficial and harmful microorganisms.

There are more than 10,000 types of microbes in our body. Of all, less than 1% can be considered potential pathogens. These will not pose a danger to us if they are kept in balance.

The change in our microbes is known as dysbiosis. This dysbiosis can occur for a variety of reasons, such as consumption of antibiotics, stress, and even changes in climate or pollutants. In this way, preventing harmful changes in our microbiota also means taking care of our planet.

3. Identify the factors of the three spheres of health and connect them to understand the concept A single microbiome.

Until now, students have had the opportunity to work on aspects related to the distribution and abundance of their microorganisms. In this new step, we intend to analyze how each of the three spheres (human, animal and environmental) directly affects our microbiota: the characteristics of every living being are conditioned by the environment in which it develops, and the environmental changes that have influenced our evolution have also influenced our microbes.

4. A model for putting scientific and systems thinking into practice.

To practice systems thinking, we suggest developing a model in which there are three spheres One health in the hypothetical real case of a person with a certain lifestyle and microbiota profile.

That would be our role model A single microbiomewhich we can offer ready-made to students to apply to their individual practical cases, or we can even ask them to prepare it themselves with the range of data we provide.

A global vision of health and microorganisms

Visualizing microorganisms through experimentation and creating maps of their distribution and models to understand interactions can help create a global vision of how these three spheres of the concept One health They affect our microflora.

However, science curricula continue to present content in a compartmentalized manner, as health and environment are studied as independent blocks. Furthermore, the microbiota is usually studied exclusively from human health.

Integrating environmental and health content is essential to create a global vision of the microbiota.

The learning situations we propose to our students must seek to integrate, rather than differentiate, the three spheres One health.

To move towards a teaching model of this type One health Scientific education of society and constant dialogue between educators and researchers are needed.