101289/Z/13/Z: The Invisible Biome: Explore the World Inside your Body

Project Summary:A permanent exhibition, supported by family-focused events, web and formal education programmes, will explore the unfolding story of the human microbiome providing new ways of understanding and linking human health and planetary health in a rapidly-changing world. Eden encourages people to work with nature and each other, aiming to help create robust, healthy societies that can cope in an evolving world and change it for the better. We start by reconnecting audiences with nature, immersing them in global ecosystems. Until now, one vital ecosystem was missing: our own. The 'Invisible Biome' will take people inside the body to meet the community that nurtures them. In our bodies bacterial cells outnumber our cells 10:1. We are not individuals, we are ecosystems. Popular understanding that microbes cause illness is changing. We need them. They also regulate our bodies, help prevent diseases and disorders, even affect mood and personality. These new biomedical discoveries could influence how we look at health, nutrition, medicines and our lifestyle decisions in the future. Eden's lifeblood is effective science communication. We will make the stories personal and relevant to a broad audience linking the health of our body's ecosystem with the planet's. We will evaluate what enhances understanding and triggers behavioural change. The exhibition: a darkened aquarium with spot-lit tanks containing microbes in organs represented by a range of interactive artistic media. The project will truly engage people with biodiversity, interdependencies between humans, plants, microbes and their environment, and the implications for the health of all these ecosystems.

Grant Holder:Ms Gabriella Gilkes (formerly Dr Tony Kendle)

Organisation:Eden Project

Financial Year:2012/2013