Gut feeling: Guelph researcher connects with Amazonian roots while studying his family's poop

A researcher from the University of Guelph is uncovering the secrets to good health and connecting to his roots by studying human feces in the Amazon rainforest.

David Good, a PhD candidate at the university, has a direct connection to the semi-nomadic Yanomami community in Venezuela through his mother.

His study is focused on uncovering the healthy bacteria in the Yanomami's feces, which has one of the most diverse microbiomes in the world.

"Diversity is really key here ... to see if we can better understand how we can ... fight against chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders," he said on CBC Radio's The Morning Edition with Craig Norris.

He says the microbiomes in the feces of Yanomami people are so different because they are part of a remote community that has little to no contact with the ultra-processed foods of the Western world.

Good's journey into microbiome research began when he went to the Amazon to reconnect with his mother's side of the family.

"As I was learning about the language, the culture, the way of life, hunting, gathering and foraging, I was introduced to the microbiome field. That allowed me to understand my Yanomami heritage through a microscopic lens," he said.

"Being socialized in Western society, but then also being a member through blood and family of that community certainly feels like worlds colliding."

Good is passionate about doing right by the Yanomami people who, like many other Indigenous groups, have historically been prone to research exploitation.

"I work on the back of the controversies of biopiracy, exploitation, extraction from previous researchers," he said.

"Taking samples ... brings the scientific community a wealth of not only knowledge, but also monetary opportunities. I'm getting a PhD, we get grants and so on. But the Yanomami historically, and Indigenous peoples worldwide, have had very little equitable benefits."

Good says to prevent making the same mistakes as the researchers before him, he works with community members to understand their needs and how the research can benefit them directly.

One of those benefits is a new learning centre that brings Yanomami community members the tools to become researchers too.

"That will allow us to train the Yanomami on how to collect samples. [Teach them] what does it mean to have a microbial diversity loss ... to know what it's like to be a researcher and understand the microbiome."