Game of Microbes: Hope, Hype and Helminths

The microbiome has generated a lot of interest and subsequently a lot of hope and hype. Claims are plentiful that it's the gut microbiome that is driving your mood, memories, food choices, metabolism, weight and immunity, just to name a few. 

 

Just like the Game of Thrones, the cast in the Game of Microbes is wide and varied. Also like the famous George RR Martin series, the characters are complicated, you can seldom categorically say that any one microbe is either all good or all evil. Microbes are complicated. Finally, the microbiome has its own Dragons and even Whitewalkers - dead,  zombie-like organisms that can influence the fate of the gut of the seven kingdoms.   

 

So, is the gut microbiome the hottest thing since Khal Drogo riding semi naked on horseback or will it turn out to be as disappointing as the season 8 finale? 

To make sense of the Game of Microbes we are going to explore from bitcoin to the Beatles to bored vikings, from communism to the Aussie film the Castle, and from gunshot wounds to Groundhog Day. Lets sift through the information