Growing microbiology literacy through interdisciplinary approaches to food fermentations and an Indigenous peoples' rights framework.

New approaches to microbiology education are needed to ensure equitable representation in microbiology and to build literacy in microbiology and science broadly. To address this goal, we developed a course held at the collegiate level that uniquely integrated microbiology, Indigenous studies, science and technology studies, and arts and performance. The course participants included students in 12 majors across science, engineering, humanities, and arts.

Microbiota in the ptarmigan intestine-An Inuit delicacy and its potential in popular cuisine.

The consumption of prey intestines and their content, known as gastrophagy, is well-documented among Arctic Indigenous peoples, particularly Inuit. In Greenland, Inuit consume intestines from various animals, including the ptarmigan, a small herbivorous grouse bird. While gastrophagy provides the potential to transfer a large number of intestinal microorganisms from prey to predator, including to the human gut, its microbial implications remain to be investigated.

Policing Black autistic children: A qualitative approach to understanding Black caregivers' concerns.

In the United States, Black autistic youth face elevated risk of negative outcomes during police interactions. Although the outcomes of these interactions are well-documented, less is known about Black autistic youths' experiences during police encounters, as the current literature has largely examined the experiences of autistic adults, mostly White American samples, and/or autistic youth abroad. This study utilizes qualitative methods to examine the perceptions and concerns of 43 Black caregivers (N = 43; 98% parents; 2% legal guardians; 93% mothers) of Black autistic children (mean age: 16.

Gut heavy metal and antibiotic resistome of humans living in the high Arctic.

Contaminants, such as heavy metals (HMs), accumulate in the Arctic environment and the food web. The diet of the Indigenous Peoples of North Greenland includes locally sourced foods that are central to their nutritional, cultural, and societal health but these foods also contain high concentrations of heavy metals. While bacteria play an essential role in the metabolism of xenobiotics, there are limited studies on the impact of heavy metals on the human gut microbiome, and it is so far unknown if and how Arctic environmental contaminants impact the gut microbes of humans living in and off the Arctic environment.