Talks from the Bio lab desk

You're on the supermarket aisle of dairy products, and scanning what is best for you. Then You probably see the word " probiotic" plastered on yogurt tubs, supplement bottles, and remembered your favourite health blogs. Time for the camera to post finding your favourite product? Sometimes, it's only as close as scrolling on social media and seeing influencers and public figures, keeping up with health trends. All the hashtags, reels and even podcast stories. Sometimes even dances with the bottle on the table. But have you ever stopped to ask, what these things, really are? And do they actually do anything once they’re inside your body? Let’s break it down. 🧫 First of All, What a re Probiotics? At their core, probiotics are live microbes  usually bacteria or yeasts, that are supposed to benefit your health when consumed in the right amounts. Think of them as helpful hitchhikers that can: Crowd out unwanted bacteria Help you digest certain foods Train...

  The exam comes or your crush just sent asked you to meet up. In other cases you get the "We need to talk" text or "See me in my office" call. Of all places to feel this, is the fiddly feeling in your stomach. Either it is "butterflies" or "nauseous" Elsewhere, there is that talk of "intuition".  Have you ever had a “gut feeling” about something? Turns out, your gut might actually know more than you think. Inside your digestive system lives an entire microbial metropolis with trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microscopic organisms that make up your gut microbiome . While you’re going about your day, they’re busy doing everything from digesting your food to making vitamins.  But here’s where it gets weird (and wonderful), they’re also sending signals to your brain. Yep! Your gut and brain are constantly talking, and microbes are the middlemen. Your Gut Has a Hotline to Your Brain The connection between your gut and your brain...

  Ever wondered what’s really going on beneath the surface of your kitchen counter, or inside the cozy corner of your bathroom tiles?  No, not metaphorically, but literally. While we’re making dinner, folding laundry, or binge-watching Netflix, there’s a whole world of tiny life forms going about their day too. Fungi, bacteria, and viruses aren’t just out in the wild or under microscopes, they’re in our homes, adapting and surviving right alongside us. And honestly? They’re doing a pretty impressive job. Bathroom Biodiversity: A Spa Day for Microbes Bathrooms are like five-star resorts for microbes.  Warm, moist, and full of organic material, whether it’s skin cells, soap scum, or that damp loofah we keep forgetting to replace. Fungi , like Candida and Aspergillus , thrive here because of the humidity. They love the grout between your tiles and the corners of your shower curtain. Spores? Oh yes, they release those like party confetti, and they...

Ahhh, friendship. The wonderful bonds that give us memories, experiences and companions to turn to when the times get tough. Just as they are the good times, do come the bad and ugly times. Guess who has a dose of the ol' friendship as well? Check this out. You open your fridge, pull out a forgotten box of strawberries, and there it is, the unmistakable fuzz of mold creeping across the surface. Not the most pleasant sight, but guess who has his friends over at your house? That moldy berry isn't just a sad waste of fruit. It's a snapshot of a group of friends just trying to get by their day, or what would be called a microscopic ecosystem in action.  Where you see a patch of fungus, you’re almost always seeing a battleground or a partnership, some group of friends or homies taking a good time out existing with each other. This includes,  fungi and other microbes like bacteria and viruses . Fungi may be the stars of many spoilage stories, in that friend group but they’r...

  On World Environment Day, it’s time to see the environment not just as scenery, but as biology in motion, feeding our farms, filling our lungs, and shaping our future. A Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight In Nairobi, the smog hangs low, mixing with dust and diesel fumes. In Narok or Turkana, a farmer stares at cracked earth, praying the rains return. These two scenes feel worlds apart, but they’re symptoms of the same failing system. Our environment. The common belief is that environmental issues belong to NGOs, tourists, or tree-huggers. However, when ecosystems break down, it’s not lions or trees that suffer first, it’s people. Health, food, jobs, even peace, they all rest on the biology of functioning ecosystems. So the question isn’t whether the environment matters. It’s whether we realize what happens when it’s gone. Two Worlds, One Crisis: The Urban-Rural Divide In the City: Nairobi’s trees are disappearing, replaced by concrete and construction. The result? Flash flood...