Sam Westreich
Bio
PhD in genetics, bioinformatician, scientist at a Silicon Valley startup. Microbiome is the secret of biology that we’ve overlooked until now.
Stories (3/0)
How Does a 1,200 Pound Cow Get Enough Protein?
As a child, I learned about cows and other herbivores. I learned that cows ate grass, that they produced milk for my breakfast cereal, and that they have four stomachs, while humans only have one. I learned that we raised male cows to make steaks and hamburgers, and that we raised female cows to get milk, which we could turn into all sorts of delicious foods, like processed American cheese singles and ice cream. (I did not have the healthiest diet as a child.)
By Sam Westreich3 years ago in Earth
The Best Probiotic You'll Never, Ever Eat
Many of us have seen commercials for probiotics: pills containing live bacteria that are said to somehow magically improve our digestive system and make us healthier. There’s never any real explanation of why eating live bacteria is good for us — the commercials just assure us that we should go out and buy their product right now, please and thank you.
By Sam Westreich3 years ago in Longevity
What is a Microbiome?
A decade ago, I’d never heard of a microbiome. Today, I hear about them constantly. Okay, yes, I hear a lot about microbiomes because it’s part of my job title. I’m a microbiome scientist, and I work on building computer programs to study this environment, how it interacts with our bodies, and its effects on health — or disease. But even outside my job, I see microbiomes, and the probiotics that are supposed to affect them, mentioned everywhere.
By Sam Westreich3 years ago in Longevity
