AMNH to Present THE SECRET WORLD INSIDE YOU Exhibit, 11/4

The Secret World Inside You explores the rapidly evolving science that is revolutionizing how we view human health. Our bodies are home to many trillions of microbes, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms collectively called the human microbiome. In any human, microbial genes outnumber the genes in human DNA by more than 100 to one. Your body also contains more microbial cells than human cells. This new perspective leads us to look at our bodies not just as individuals but as entire ecosystems.

Investigating the human microbiome is a very young science, and researchers are just beginning to understand what constitutes a "normal" microbiome, how it changes over time, and how it affects health and disease. But what is clear is that the effects of the microbiome on its human host are profound and multifaceted-and could play an important role in common health problems like allergies, asthma, obesity, and even anxiety and depression.

Featuring interactive activities, videos, and a live theater, The Secret World Inside You will take visitors on a tour of the human body, making stops at places where microbes thrive: your skin-which, covering about 20 square feet, is your largest organ-your mouth and your gastrointestinal tract, which is home to your body's densest and most diverse microbial community, and your reproductive system, where babies encounter their first big batch of microbes as they exit the birth canal.

How do your interactions with microbes-from the type of environment where you grew up to the number of times you have taken an antibiotic, which destroys both bad and good bacteria-influence your health? In what ways can your microbiome be said to be its own organ? And is it possible that the state of the bacteria in your gut plays a role in your mental health?

The Secret World Inside You, on view from November 7, 2015-August 14, 2016, will explore these intriguing questions and more.

This project is supported by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Please enter underneath the main stairs on Central Park West at 79th Street.

You may RSVP here. If you are not immediately connected to the site, please cut and paste www.amnh.org/rsvp into your browser. Alternatively, you may call 212-769-5800 or email communications@amnh.org.