Culture, environment
and the microbiome.

The microbiome

The microbiome is the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms living in and on the human body, especially in the gut. It is shaped by food, environment, contact with animals and land, medication, housing, sanitation, stress and daily life.

Research led by Professor Fergus Shanahan and colleagues found that Irish Travellers retained microbiome features associated with a less-industrialised way of life. It also raised serious questions about what may be lost when communities undergo rapid lifestyle change.

This does not mean poor accommodation should be romanticised or preserved. Unsafe sites, damp housing, overcrowding and unequal healthcare cause harm. The point is different: when policy changes a people's environment and way of life, it should investigate the biological as well as the social consequences.

Important note

TraVision Foundation is a community-led research and public-education organisation. We are not a laboratory or medical service. We work from published evidence, lived knowledge and ethical collaboration with qualified researchers. Our role is to connect questions that institutions have kept apart and to push for the research Ireland still needs.