The Journey of Microorganisms: From Unicellular Organisms to the Colonization of the Gastrointestinal Tract
Johnny Begale
Honors Project: The Journey of Microorganisms: From Unicellular Organisms to the Colonization of the Gastrointestinal Tract
Honors Course: Honors General College Biology II
Instructor: Khursheed Ichhaporia
My name is Johnny Begale and I am a career change student, trading in my accounting and food processing tools for a lab coat and microscope. While the practical side won out during the first quarter of my life, I have always been a curious being. Because of this I realized that I need to pursue an education in the sciences in order to satiate my desire to learn, to be in awe of the truths all around us. I am currently attending Oakton Community College to take prerequisite courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics to discover what long term trajectory I want to jump on and start building for myself.
Back in 2012, my mother was diagnosed with recurrent cancer and at that time I began to investigate all avenues of human physiology and her personal health history in hopes of providing complementary aid. While I had no background in the medical field or the sciences, all the medical journal articles and textbook excerpts I read seemed to point at the same organ system to investigate: the gut microbiota.
Under the advising of Dr. Ichhaporia, we met on numerous occasions, allowing me the freedom of choice regarding the topic based on my personal interests and in line with relevance to the class material. Dr. Ichhaporia provided helpful guidance keeping me focused on the overarching goal of the research project. For this honors project I decided to investigate and understand how the human gut microbiota became so powerful regarding human physiology and why fecal microbiota transplants harness so much therapeutic potential. After researching how life on Earth began, I analyzed specific and relevant evolutionary adaptations throughout the 3.7 billion years of life. With Dr. Ichhaporia’s expertise in microbiology and evolutionary understanding, we were able to pinpoint specific adaptations to highlight and focus on.
Tracing the evolutionary journey of microbes to homo sapiens, I turned my focus towards the microbial colonization of the human gut regarding how it is established and maintained within an individual. With this knowledge laid out, I investigated and highlighted how the medical field is utilizing the power of the gut microbiota for diagnosis and treatment of a variety of illnesses, in addition to the potential that analyzing one’s gut microbiota may have regarding preventive healthcare and possible creation of ‘designer guts.’ I have presented my findings in the forms of a research paper, pictograph, and short video presentation (below).
