Collecting Fecal Samples from the Zoo

In an attempt to explore the diversity of bacteria found in a range of species, the MSA took a trip to Artis Zoo in Amsterdam to collect some fecal samples.     After viewing lots of possible candidates, we ended up collecting samples from the red ruffed lemur (native to Madagascar), the greater rhea (Argentina, Bolivia,…

On The Hide and Seek of Information

Image from Wikimedia Commons   Issues of privacy, surveillance, security, and transparency have been front and center in international news for some time now. In the United States, many believe that the privacy of citizens was essentially relinquished when the Patriot Act was instated in 2001 as an anti-terrorism program. Perhaps, it wasn’t until the…

Questions about Citizen (funded) Science

Image from Wikimedia Commons The Microbiome Security Agency was partially born out of the tension between the desire for an open, shared, free society and an individual’s right to privacy. In the digital age, this tension can be found across a spectrum of domains and disciplines. The simpler it is to freely share, the easier…

Creating Options In The World

This is not a project about a dystopian tomorrow.   Our goal is not to point out the frightening, the undone, or the destructive. The MSA is not an organization designed to showcase ugly truths and reinforce the belief that as humans, we are our own worst enemy, our own largest problem, our own cause of pain.   …

What is a Microbiome?

The human microbiota is the ecosystem of microorganisms that live in and on an individual’s body. Many of these microbes are beneficial to the host and aid in the body’s natural processes (like digestion, for example). The genomes of these microorganisms are called the human microbiome. There are ten times more microbe cells than human…

Welcome to the MSA

Welcome to the MSA. At the Microbiome Security Agency we’re working to empower you to take a proactive approach to protecting your privacy at the biological level. The research we do at the lab is translated to a DIY setting and made accessible for the general public. We provide this service for free, with the…