Paper short abstract:

Microbiome science disrupts the biology/social dichotomy. In the clinic, human-microbe relations are multiple; bacteria are now both symbiont and pathogen. We examine clinicians’ views on microbiome science and asthma care to consider microbiome science and biosocial futures in biomedicine.

Paper long abstract:

Human microbiome science is opening up new understandings of the human body that disrupt the biology/social dichotomy. Our bodies contain and coevolve with trillions of microbes leading proponents to speak of the body as ecosystem and humans as superorganisms or holobionts. One's unique microbial 'fingerprint' is shaped by social factors such as lifestyle, diet, geography, and community, leading to new understandings of how the social is woven into one's biological fabric. Human health and life are increasingly understood to depend on bacterial partners, or symbionts, supporting views of human/nonhuman sociality. In the clinical domain, human-microbe relations are multiple as bacteria are now both symbiont and pathogen, both friend and foe.

In this empirical paper, we examine healthcare professionals' reflections on microbiome science and asthma care to consider how multiple human-microbe relations may complicate understandings of conventional biomedical bodies and practice. Asthma is one of several chronic conditions for which human microbiome research is thought to hold significant promise. Researchers have recently demonstrated that the presence of 4 bacterial strains in the gut microbiota is associated with reduced immune hypersensitivities and lower rates of asthma. Drawing on qualitative interviews with doctors and nurses in Canada who treat people with asthma, we examine their views on clinical implications of microbiome research to gain insight on how microbiome science may be opening up new temporal and spatial arrangements of bodies, health/illness, and treatment/prevention. We conclude with thoughts on biosocial futures in the clinic.