The Secret Life of Your Gut Microbes

Trillions of bacteria and fungi live in your gut. Without you even realising it, they influence your health: they help you digest food and can alter how medicines work in your body. They also know how to handle metals: they absorb the ones your body needs and influence what happens to those it doesn’t need.

But how can this invisible world be explored? To do so, scientists build tiny models of the gut in the laboratory. They also track chemical traces to find out which route metals take in the body and where they end up.

Now it’s your turn: test your microbial instinct! Take on gut bacteria in Gut Rush, step into the shoes of a detective in our Gut-on-Chip puzzle, and mix your own metal concoctions in the Isotope Mix Lab. You don’t need a lab coat – just curiosity!