Your showerhead data are here!

August 23, 2018 8:24 PM

The study of the human-centered microbiome is accelerating day by day. 583 people had a test kit and instructions sent to them so they could have the microbiome in their showerhead sampled and investigated. All across the US citizen science is becoming more and more popular. The same lab that did the showerhead sampling is investigating via citizen science the human-centered microbiome. There are ~20 current projects: Rob Dunn and the scientists, communicators and volunteers in his lab aim to tell the stories of the small species–whether on our bodies, under our beds or in our backyards–humans interact with every day but tend to ignore. The ecology and evolution of these species in our private places has barely begun to be explored.

Here is part of the email that was sent to me regarding the showerhead data:


And now, a message from Rob Dunn:
Your showerhead is personal. It is the conduit through which water falls on you to keep you clean. It is also full of life. Showerheads can, in other words, clean you and dirty you at the same time.

We are interested in the life in showerheads, particularly the life that accumulates in biofilms (tiny microbial cities) inside the showerheads. There are many reasons to be interested in these biofilms. For ecologists, these biofilms are relatively simple (they tend to contain few species) and discreet enough to be understood. They are an opportunity to test the newest theories. For medical researchers, these biofilms can contain pathogens. For those who study cooperation, biofilms offer a model of how bacteria work together. All of these things are interesting, but among the very most interesting things about biofilms is that lurking in them we often encounter species with the potential to perform useful services for humanity. Biofilms are a font of innovation, new possibilities spraying down upon you each time you bathe.

This week we (and by “we” I mean Matt Gebert) finished a round of the identification of the microbes in showerheads from across the United States. We have almost finished the samples from Europe as well. Finished is very relative. We can now share a map of what we know so far. Each point on the map is near a sampled showerhead. The points don’t exactly match the location of the homes so as to preserve the anonymity of the homeowner. The results displayed by clicking on each point on the map include the presence and relative abundance of each of the top 25 most common genera over all.

posted by RuvaBlue (15 comments total)

Friendly reminder to the more squeamish among us—the phrase "ignorance is bliss" didn't come from nothing.

Now I'm going to fetch the bleach, an old toothbrush, and a few toothpicks (for scraping out whatever the hell might be growing in the tiny spaces) and dismantle my showerhead.
posted by she's not there at 8:57 PM on August 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh wow, I know someone who works on that project as a researcher. She was visiting a few months ago and told me a little about it.

Let’s just say I now have much more ambivalent feelings about the misters that are ubiquitous at outdoor dining spaces here...
posted by Superplin at 9:31 PM on August 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Now see, this is exactly why I never bathe!!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:40 PM on August 23, 2018 [6 favorites]

Given that I'm already somewhere between 3:1 & 1:1 regarding bacteria:human, I'm not particularly worried about picking up some migrants from tiny microbial cities. I already contain multitudes! (I'm also OK with the the tiny spiders that inhabit me, so YMMV.)
posted by sysinfo at 10:37 PM on August 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

I know there's has been some steady work via World Community Grid with The Human Microbiome Immunity Project.
posted by Samizdata at 1:40 AM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

> Greg_Ace:
"Now see, this is exactly why I never bathe!!"

Dude. We can tell from here.
posted by Samizdata at 1:40 AM on August 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

I already contain multitudes!

We are Legion.
posted by arcticseal at 5:36 AM on August 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

But I just got a new showerhead! Where are my friends?!
posted by amanda at 6:21 AM on August 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Until we have evidence that showerhead biofilms have some kind of harmful effect I'm just not going to worry about it. Maybe those neutral/beneficial bacteria are a buffer against all the nasty ones that could be killing us. We've been sharing our bodies with them a loooong time, they are literally everywhere, I'm not going to freak out about them now.
posted by emjaybee at 7:06 AM on August 24, 2018 [6 favorites]

You could be an animal and take your shower head off like a fella I know. (He claims the hard water clogs it up.) Get clean under the pipe. Avoid excessive microbes!

1. Invent expensive doohickey that fits over the threads of the shower pipe but doesn't affect the flow
2. Promote it to microbe-phobes
3. ???
4. $$!
posted by BlueHorse at 10:49 AM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I am Earth's microbiome.
posted by ArmandoAkimbo at 11:20 AM on August 24, 2018

I've been wondering for a while what effect constantly moving and traveling has on our health. If you think about it, throughout most of history people happily lived in the same bacterial stew in roughly the same place they grew up and ate a fairly predictable diet. Now we globe trot and eat sushi one meal and Ethiopian food the next. Even if you stick to a regular diet the ingredients are sourced from all over. I've been wondering what relationship this has to auto-immune disorders and other diseases of modern living (the ones that we don't already know are due to eating too much crap anyway). It's got to be more stressful in some ways.
posted by fshgrl at 12:40 PM on August 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

"Now see, this is exactly why I never bathe!!"

Dude. We can tell from here.

Nah, it's cool, I use Axe Body Spray like it's goin' outta style. There's no health risks from using tons of that, right? ...Right?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:58 PM on August 24, 2018

Rob Dunn is one of the most genuinely kind and socially engaged scientists I've ever met. He molds his lab's projects around the things that non-scientists ask him when he presents his work and does outreach. Like, this is also the lab that brought you Cat Tracker, because someone really wanted to know where their cat went around the neighborhood. He's super committed to the idea that science ought to serve public curiosity, and he (and the people around him) are clever enough to find the scientific and intellectual merits of the curiosity, too, and do a great job getting grants.

He told me three years ago not to be scared to be a really great scientist myself, because it wouldn't do any good to sit around and wait for someone else to be great. It was like he saw through all my imposter syndrome bullshit and refused to stand for it. So I'm trying, Rob, I'm trying. Seriously, he's just a great guy and everyone should always keep up with what Rob Dunn's lab does.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 2:14 PM on August 24, 2018 [9 favorites]

These bacteria do they vibrate? I've been told they talk
posted by hortense at 4:42 PM on August 24, 2018