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The first exploratory study of the skin piercing microbiome (the microbiome is the sum of microbes commensal with a human or other organism that lives on the skin or in the gut) reveals how a sudden disturbance such as a piercing can trigger a fundamental ecological shift that increases biodiversity, laying the foundation for the development of piercings. As a model for understanding how societies respond to rapid environmental change.
From the perspective of the bacteria, eukaryotes, and other microscopic creatures that call the skin home, a puncture is as catastrophic and horrific an event as a giant earthquake or meteorite strike, and this has been proven in microbiome analysis.
Self-engineering of the environmental landscape
In the study conducted by a team from Canada’s McGill University, researchers for the first time introduced science to an unexpected environment, which is the tattoo parlor. In this first characterization of the human borehole microbiome, the unique human cultural practice of borehole serves as a model system to help us better understand how biological communities reassemble after environmental perturbations.
The piercing process usually begins with sterilizing the skin and removing microbes present in it, and then the piercing itself creates a new environment that differs from previously unpierced skin in many ways, and serves as a “clean slate” for the colonization of a new microbial community.
“We know from anthropology and sociology that piercings are a uniquely human symbol of expression, communication, and identity,” says Charles Shaw, a doctoral student in biology who led the study, in the university’s press release. “Through this study, we have shown that piercing the skin also represents an unintentional act.” From the self-engineering of the environmental landscape on human skin.”
From October 2019 to March 2020, researchers recruited 28 people who were receiving earlobe piercings at a designated location in Montreal. Then, skin swab samples were collected before the participants got their ear piercings and several other times during the two weeks following the piercing. .
Understanding the biological consequences of environmental events
The results of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, highlight the way in which a sudden event such as a piercing can radically shift the skin microbiome. The puncture site showed an increase in the number of unique DNA sequences and species compared to non-punctured control cases, indicating the presence of an increasingly diverse and environmentally complex microbiome at the puncture site, dominated by two opposing species of bacteria.
With this new understanding of the skin-penetrating microbiome, Xu says the study lays the foundation for further research regarding other types of piercings, the tattoo microbiome, and even the prevention and control of skin infections.
Looking beyond the human body, Shaw’s supervisor Professor Rowan Barrett says such studies could help our understanding of the biological consequences of large-scale catastrophic environmental events.
“The hole represents a nice model that can be followed to gain a better understanding of the general processes associated with community assembly after environmental change,” he adds.
