This lengthy post covers the topic of setting up and running a self-experiment, a human trial of a single individual, to assess whether a ten week course of flagellin immunization will significantly and beneficially affect gut microbe populations. Flagellin is the protein making up a flagellum, the appendage that bacteria use to move themselves around. As it happens, the presence of flagellae correlates decently well with harmful gut microbes, and the absence of flagellae correlates decently well with helpful gut microbes. In principle, provoking the immune system into greater efforts to chase down and destroy anything with a flagellum will better manage the microbial populations of the gut. These populations change with age in ways that promote <a href="https://ww…
How to Plan and Carry Out a Simple Self-Experiment, a Single Person Trial of Flagellin Immunization
This lengthy post covers the topic of setting up and running a self-experiment, a human trial of a single individual, to assess whether a ten week course of flagellin immunization will significantly and beneficially affect gut microbe populations. Flagellin is the protein making up a flagellum, the appendage that bacteria use to move themselves around. As it happens, the presence of flagellae correlates decently well with harmful gut microbes, and the absence of flagellae correlates decently well with helpful gut microbes. In principle, provoking the immune system into greater efforts to chase down and destroy anything with a flagellum will better manage the microbial populations of the gut. These populations change with age in ways that promote <a href="https://ww…