Liaisons of Life....review

Nowadays my working hours takes almost the whole day ( I finish work only at 7pm ), followed by breaking fast and sometimes gym sessions with hubby... other than that, we read together a lot, hanging out at McDonalds in Ang Mo Kio... sharing a cup of steaming cuppacino...

The latest book I've read is 'Liaisons of Life' by Tom Wakeford.

The content is evidence of a very thorough and exhaustive research done on the author's part, and the topics discussed really is truly eye-opening and captivating as it allows the reader to view the world through a different lens...

This book is not for anyone to pick up and read though... only for the fervent science lovers like myself, who is used to the scientific terms and lingos used in the book... which reminds me of a friend who labelled me as a 'Science Freak'..haha!!

Some interesting issues from the book I would like to share and worth discussing on:

1. All through my life as a student in school, we were taught that all plants in the forest are involved in competition for sunlight, resulting in survival of the fittest...that would only leave the forest floor bare of life right?

However, the actual explanation for the forest floor we see teeming with plant and animal life is due to the dependence of all plants on the fungi kingdom - which exists as a vast interconnected network underground (like the world wide web), linking all the plants together, domesticating them to share rather than compete for resources... ensuring survival of all plant species present...

2. Almost every studied animal life on Earth exists in symbiosis (mutualism) with the microbial kingdom in the continuously challenging face of evolution - including humans. However, the relationship between mutualism and parasitism is a reversible process, dependent on the balance of the coexisting good and bad bacteria colonies in the host.

For example, for humans, the good (probiotics) and bad bacteria in our bodies, helps to maintain a healthy, working digestive system and the strength of our immune system thus our overall health. Prior to contrary belief of parents to ensure their children are sterile at all times, we actually need to expose our children to the various microbial communities existing in nature for them to benefit by boosting their immune system against particular infections.

Research shows that children born vaginally will receive their first gut flora from their mothers - from good bacteria existing in the vagina. Babies delivered via Caesarean section however, have fewer beneficial bacteria, and more potentially harmful ones. Before birth, the baby is considered 'sterile', especially having no bacteria in its colon at all. Thus, the baby's body will be exposed and bombarded with the various microbial communities of the outside world, making them more susceptible to infections and illnesses if their immune system are not adapted to fight these microbes beforehand.

For human adults though, to ensure the good bacterial colonies overpowers the bad bacterial colonies in our gut is actually quite simple, yet unpractised in the modern & developed countries like UK and USA due to the advent of fast food enterprises...

We just have to include fibre in our daily meals... there's 2 types of fibre : soluble fibre (which absorbs water) & insoluble fibre (which does not). Soluble fibre can be found in nuts, onions,garlics,bananas,seeds, peas, beans and lentils whilst insoluble fibre can be found in rice, carrots and cucumbers. Just include lots of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet to be on the safe side...

This is because the good bacteria thrives in our gut by feeding on these fibres - also called prebiotics, fermenting them, with by-products that can help strengthen our immune system and also fight cancer. We can ingest probiotics(living cultures) such as Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium which can be available in milk-based drinks, yoghurts and cheeses. Research shows that to maintain a healthy digestive system, we can take in more prebiotics as they work better than taking in probiotics ( which exist in negligible amounts as compared to those already present in your gut)

3. We should question ourselves whether we exist from microbial ancestors instead of just existing in symbiosis with them. This is due to research findings that the mitochondria and sperms (vital for our fertilisation techniques) inside our bodies have traces of bacterial DNA origin. And so do plants, as the chloroplasts they depend on for their daily living are also of microbial origin. It is a sort of bacteria that can make use of sunlight to produce food for the plants. So, are mammals the result of evolution from the microbial world?