What Gorilla Poop Tells Us About Evolution and Human Health

Andy

Andy

Retired committee member
A study of the microbiomes of wild gorillas and chimpanzees offers insights into the evolution of the human microbiome and might even have implications for human health. The research project was led by scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Findings appear in the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers used genetic sequencing to analyze fecal samples collected by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) from wild African great apes living the Sangha region of the Republic of Congo over the course of three years. Their goal was to understand the mix of gut microbes living in gorillas and chimpanzees and compare them to those already documented in other non-human primates and human populations. They found that gorilla and chimpanzee microbiomes fluctuate with seasonal rainfall patterns and diet, switching markedly during the summer dry period when succulent fruits abound in their environment and make up a larger proportion of their diet, as opposed to their usual, more fiber-rich diet of leaves and bark.
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https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/pu...oop-tells-us-about-evolution-and-human-health

“Bacteria that help gorillas break down fibrous plants are replaced once a year by another group of bacteria that feed on the mucous layer in their gut during the months they are eating fruits.

“The fact that our microbiomes are so different from our nearest living evolutionary relatives says something about how much we’ve changed our diets, consuming more protein and animal fat at the expense of fiber,” says Williams. “Many humans may be living in a constant state of fiber deficiency. Such a state may be promoting the growth of bacteria that degrade our protective mucous layer, which may have implications for intestinal inflammation, even colon cancer.”
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Manganus said:
It hints at a paradigm shift.

Certainly, it's not intended as any kind of clinical advice.
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Yes, I had noticed what it was trying to say...my point is there has been quite a bit of evolution in between to make the correlation of a microbiome of a gorilla which has different dietary requirements a little bit pointless.

We eat a varied and omnivorous diet and this adaptability to our environment is how we have colonised the globe as we have evolved. It’s also why the gorilla is sat on its arse chowing down on fruit for months and hasn’t. So yes I’m sure what you eat affects your microbiome ...so what? We know this already from it being bloody obvious and we know we can change it over the very short term.

Changing from what microflora to another is the question and identifying the subtle effects of different populations at a species level is what will be interesting. The results of this sort of research will undoubtedly roll back up to some sort of dietary advice....unlikely to be to eat a gorilla diet though. However I’m sure some die hard paleo lifestyle followers would like the idea. I can see the crazy food bloggers lapping it up.

The hints the article refers to are jumbled and confused, one moment talking about gorillas then talking about humans, then talking about how bad it is we eat a regular diet all the time and the evils of the food supply chain then talking about poor gorillas being depleted in numbers.

Pure fantasy and extremely tenuous, with too much conjecture and not enough science in it ....poop of the highest order I’m afraid. I’m sure they had a lovely expensed trip collecting the samples though.
 
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