Our Body the Ecosystem

My first feature for Popular Science hits newsstands this month. It's called 'Our Body the Ecosystem', and in it I profile microbiologists who are investigating the link between eczema — a common skin rash — and bacterial populations that live on our skin.From the piece:

Jake has been struggling with eczema since he was a few months old. The rash never stops itching, and when he scratches, it bleeds and scabs and gets even itchier. His clothes stick to the sores. He has tried many treatments, including petroleum jelly, topical steroids, antibiotics, and also dairy-free, gluten-free and probiotic diets. None of them has worked very well. When he was younger, he went to school with bandages on the tips of his fingers and slept with socks over his hands. In bed, he still sometimes lies on his back with both legs sticking straight up so they’re easier to scratch. “I’ve never really gotten a full night’s sleep,” he says.

(While reporting the story, I learned that I probably carry a genetic glitch that predisposes me to excema, which I wrote about in November on The Last Word on Nothing.)Read more at...Popular Science, March 2011.