My story today is about our microbiomes — the trillions of microorganisms that make their homes in and on us — and the outsized role that scientists believe they play in our health. There are few biological processes in which they don’t play a role: They helped form our digestive and immune systems. They influence the shape and size of our bodies. They may even affect our moods. Yet very little is known about them. Even just the idea that we might cure almost anything by tweaking our microbiomes has helped spawn a multibillion-dollar market for supplements and specialized diets. But we still don’t know what constitutes a “healthy” microbiome, let alone how to alter an individual one to make it better. Two scientists, Mathilde Poyet and Mathieu Groussin, set out to collect microbiome samples from around the world and begin to map this uncharted terrain. In 2024, I followed them to an Indigenous community in Paraguay. The scientists had to jury-rig new equipment after their supplies were stuck in customs and travel into a forest rife with guerrilla activity to ultimately collect samples from just 30 or so people. Through their work, the team has found big differences in the microbiomes of industrialized and nonindustrialized communities. Those differences may give us the key to understanding the microbiome and its potential. Read the story here. Stay in touch: Like this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.
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