Meet with our team member Matthias Mitteregger . Matthias is a PhD student and microbiologist by training and he has also picked up bioinformatics skills during his time in our lab. His main projects are focused on the metabolism of cholesterol and fibers by the bacteria in our gut, looking at which bacteria drive it and how the products affect human health. In parallel with the science, Matthias is active in arranging social events for our lab members and he is frequently sharing insights about "the world of science" with students visiting our lab and during "Låna en forskare" and Forskarfredag. We have interviewed him about his views on science and the life of a scientist.

How would you descibe your research to someone who is not familiar with science?

Everything we eat eventually ends up in our intestine, where our gut microbiota runs a chemical factory that takes our food apart and builds new substances. Some of these substances are good for our health and some are bad. We are exploring which bacteria produce the “good stuff” and what they need to be productive, e.g., fibers, or interactions with certain other bacteria.

How come you choose this field of science?

I’m fascinated by the capabilities of bacteria; they find ways to live everywhere: degrade plastics or heavy metals, dwell in the dead sea, hydrothermal vents or even nuclear reactors. Some bacteria made themselves at home in our guts and formed a symbiotic relationship with us, with both sides constantly affecting each other. I’m interested in how we influence or bacteria, but even more so, how they influence us, our health and ever our behavior.

What would you like to achieve with your science?

My personal goal is to satisfy my curiosity, find out how things work and why they work that way.... Ultimately, it would be awesome to know that my findings make a contribution to the improvement of human health, or in broader context, One Health.

What’s a common misconception about your field of study?

There’s still the misconception that bacteria are “bad” or “dirty”. In fact, we’re constantly surrounded by bacteria, and we live in a rather peaceful coexistence with most of them. They even help keep the few harmful bacteria at bay, so we should appreciate them more.

If you could change one thing about the way people understand science, what would it be?

Science is not believing what we find is the one irrevocable truth. In fact, we need to change our views all the time based on new experiments and data. But there are some findings that the vast majority of scientists around the world come to agree on, backed by years of experiments and data analysis. And we need people to understand that these are not debatable or up for different interpretation…