Did you know that you are an ecosystem? With trillions of microbes living in and on us—including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites—there are more microbes in the human body than stars in the Milky Way! These microbes affect our digestion, fight off disease, and can even influence your mood. They live on our skin and in our gut, make their first appearances during birth, and colonize the body and evolve over a lifetime.
These are some of the fun facts you will discover at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s new exhibit Me & My Microbes: The Zoo Inside You, opening December 20 and running until March 29, 2020.
Chock-full of information, the exhibition explores the sometimes complex relationships between our microbes and our health through videos, games, larger-than-life models, art installations, and clever, sensory experiences. For example, a station about bacteria on feet offers the dubious pleasure of sniffing the foul odour, thanks to the sulphur-smelling compound methanethiol.
There is also an interactive 4 m-long tabletop touchscreen that shows how the human body is an ecosystem, revealing different microbial areas, from mouth bacteria to eyelashes harbouring microscopic mites. Another interactive station challenges you to build a microbiome (grow helpful microbes) through three games where you either feed the gut, cure a throat infection, or fight an antibiotic-resistant infection.
Me & My Microbes: The Zoo Inside You is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature is made possible with the support from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation (Presenting Partner), University of Calgary (Knowledge Sponsor), and BioGaia (Supporting Sponsor).
Plan Your Visit
Cost
$6 plus museum admission (tax not included)
Free for members and Tiny Tots (ages 0–2).
Save $2 with a ticket combo that includes general admission, a 3D movie and the special exhibition Me and My Microbes.
https://nature.ca/en/plan-your-visit/what-see-do/our-exhibitions/me-my-microbes-zoo-inside-you
