AMNH Presents: What Are You Made Of?
*The event has already taken place on this date: Sun, 05/15/2016
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We tend to think of bacteria and viruses as harmful agents of disease. But, as visitors to the Museum’s new exhibition The Secret World Inside You learn, most of the microscopic organisms that live on and in us are in fact keeping us healthy.
To learn more about these beneficial microbes, the American Museum of Natural History is teaming up with researchers from University of Pennsylvania’s Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health for a first-of-its-kind study. And you can help!
Drop by the Sackler Educational Laboratory in the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins on Saturday or Sunday afternoons beginning May 14 for a host of educational activities and to share a few of your microbes for our study.
Healthy Microbiome project staff will swab for microbe samples from your hands, face, and nostrils. The samples will be processed to help researchers learn more about the composition of the healthy human microbiome (bacteria) and virome (viruses). Please note that while general information like age, gender, and hometown will be collected, all samples will be handled anonymously.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.