Gut feeling series

Microbes and their roles and functions in the human body

The content we will cover

This series will also allow us to make known the “One Health” concept and how human,
animal (domesticated and wild), and environmental (planetary) health are inextricably
connected and important to us and the Earth. This is especially and timely critical, after
going through the Covid-19 global pandemic crisis, for the next generations to
understand that any small and/or large decisions our species made may lead to
devastating and cascading consequences that will affect everyone, every living
organism, and the very place we live in. This series can interest some future scientists
and political leaders and is hoped to form a liking/positive attitude toward microbiology
among children. This project can help children by informing them on how to take care of
their bodies – an essential ecosystem – and the bacteria in our lives. This graphic novel
series can act as an easy transition into learning sciences from elementary to high
school and the children’s curiosity can be fostered through such series.
One Health is the concept wherein the health of humans, environments and
animals (both domesticated and wild) is interrelated and inseparable. Sciences
and society may now need to more mindfully consider “One Health” as an
approach to mitigate existing and emerging interrelated global health threats
that are complex in nature. Through such a series, the next generation will be
aware of how intricate and interconnected all things in our ecosystem are. We
can no longer afford to look singularly at humans or animals or microbes or
habitats as each separate system, but rather we need to pay attention to the
interactions across people, animals, and the environment. After all, we have
only “One World and One Health” to tend to. As Chris Hadfield, a Canadian
astronaut stated in an interview with National Geographic for the One Strange
Rock documentary, The beauty of a space flight is when you come back with a
real sense that this Earth is one place, one shared place, we are all crew mates
on the same ship.

Content will be planned and illustrated, then uploaded for your entertainment!

Some Topics:

Some common misconceptions will be illuminated through scientific findings

 “Germs are bad”.  Microbes are not ALL bad, bacteria are not equally
created – neutral, positive, and negative
 Contamination vs infection The only good microbe is a dead microbe.
E. coli bacteria are all the same (i.e. always dangerous).
 The biggest microbial health concern in buildings is mold.
 “I need antibiotics for my cold”
 Microbes in the built environment affect everyone the same way.
 We understand microbes best in pure culture and as single colonies
 “Hand sanitizing gel is better at killing germs than soap and water”
 Vaccines are dangerous
 You always catch an infection from a dirty environment or hospital
 We can use antibiotics saved in the cupboard from a previous infection
 People can become resistant to antibiotics
 Any side effect you get from an antibiotic means you have an allergy and can
never take it again
 Superbugs are untreatable
 “One Health” we are all connected.
 “Bats” the best natural-selected reservoirs to viral pathogens for future
pandemic.
 “Hand sanitizing gel is better at killing germs than soap and water”