My own recreation of gut microbiome mapping representing spatial organization – by Olivia Kraska

Microbial mapping is where scientists take a swab of any area inside the body, most commonly it is done to our tongue and cheek, then adding fluorescent dye to that sample to tag all the diverse bacteria that exist within it. This is a painting I did to represent not only the diversity that can be seen in while doing this technique, but also what I think my microbiomes would look like in my gut as this STEAM project idea is aimed to do a deep dive of the digestive system and the functioning organs involved with it. Almost all of these bacteria reside in the GI tract and while limits in research methodology prevents us from truly studying this phenomenon, scientists do know the huge role these microorganisms play in absorbing nutrients throughout the digestive process and maintaining immune system health by protecting our body against harmful pathogens that may have been ingested with food or water. Each color represents a different microbial and the way each of the colors are placed signifies the spatial organization seen in this microscopic world. The painting is on a 8×10 canvas and I mixed all of my own colors using white, yellow, blue and red.