Astrophysics of the Colon?

I just spent a great 12 hour day at a gala symposium at Arizona Sate University in Tempe on Origins. It was a scientific extravaganza extraordinaire, looking at all aspects of our planet, our own solar system, our entire cosmos and, of course, us humans ourselves. These and the archived videos of the sessions are and will all be available at asu.edu. Search out Origins Symposium.

70 of the world's leading scientists, including 6 Nobel prize winners were on the program. The world famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawkins was to attend but had to give an audio presentation instead as he became ill and could not attend. It was, perhaps, the greatest collection of such scientists ever gathered for such a symposium.

Some of the information they shared was simply beyond understanding for us mere mortals who raptly sat at the feet of these giants. However, what was totally understandable by the 3,000 of us in the audience (how about that for a conference that ran 12 hours right through the March Madness final game!) was the sheer joy of discovery that was so evident to these experts and that came across so clearly to us.

So what did it all mean to me? Well, I am a retired gastroenterologist. I haven't retired, however. I have simply shifted gears into high drive to better understand the enormous new discoveries that have occurred about the workings of our own bodies and, especially, how the bacteria within our gut have turned out to be such loving buddies and such health producing partners. Who could have predicted it? We simply take care of them and make them healthy by supplying them with the right nourishment and they, in turn, do the same for us.

There are some enormous projects being followed in this area even today. The Gastrointestinal Microbiome is one whereby the entire gene makeup of all the bacteria in the gut is to be determined and understood. There are enormous implications from this project alone. It is certain that what we know now is just the first chapter in a wonderful scientific adventure story.

So, how do I and my readers fit in? Well, my skills are in the GI field. They are also in the field of communicating the complex workings of the GI tract in health and disease to my patients. This is what is so exciting. There is simply so much to tell and it is not just of academic interest. What a cosmic physicist tells us really does not have any practical importance to us individually: Let's face it. However, how the gut works in each of us can have a very important outcome to our personal well being.

That is rather neat. I don't really understand cosmic physics, string theory or how the atom works very well, but I do understand the excitement of discovery and the thrill of telling others of practical things they can do to make their lives and health better. I look forward to continuing to share these discoveries in my own field of gastroenterology with you.

Our major international meeting of Digestive Disease Week is in Chicago this May-June. Last year there was just a breakfast meeting on Prebiotics and Probiotics. This year there is an 8 hour session with lots of other presentations. The field has come a long way in a short time. We are in an information overflow, so stay tuned.