One Man’s Poo is Another Man’s PhD

By Kalliopi Monoyios | January 31, 2013 |

Share Share Email Print Print

Scientists collect crazy things. I’m not talking thimble-crazy or frog-themed-crazy. That kind of tchotchke barely ranks on the crazy scale. The collections I’m talking about are things like bellybutton lint, whale vomit, and human poo. You mean raw sewage?! Yes, sort of… but straight from the source. Fresh, unadulterated. Yup. And to supersize the irony, people are paying scientists for the distinct pleasure of having their poo join the collection. Really! True story. Those nut-bag scientists have actually set up a project where you can pay for the privilege to have your poo in their special collection. Can you imagine such a thing?

Only two days left to have your poo memorialized for science. Join the fun! You won’t regret it.

About the Author: Kalliopi Monoyios is the illustrator of several best-selling science books including Neil Shubin's The Universe Within, Shubin’s Your Inner Fish, and Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution is True. Her illustration portfolio can be found at kalliopimonoyios.com. Follow her solo on Twitter at @eyeforscience. For tweets from the whole Symbiartic crew, Follow on Twitter @symbiartic.

More »

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Tags: american gut, bacteria, citizen funded science, citizen science, gut bacteria, gut microbiome, indiegogo, intestinal fauna, intestinal flora, intestines, microbiome

Previous: SciArt at ScienceOnline 2013 – the Digital Gallery

More
Symbiartic

Next: Want to find more artists, ScienceOnline?

Add Comment

Add a Comment
You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.