You’ve seen the headlines. Things like “the seven habits of people who never get sick” and “the 10 things this 100-year-old triathlete does every morning”. Whether you’re scrolling on Instagram or catching up on the news, optimal-health clickbait has become a genre that’s impossible to avoid.
Inevitably, there is some practical advice mixed with a wacky titbit or two, along with shoppable links to supplements or fitness routines. So you make a mental note to remember one of the more resonant tips and move on with your day. But what if, rather than reading about the habits of highly effective and healthy superhumans on the Internet, you had something more to gain from them? Like their DNA.
From probiotics to cosmetic treatments to, yes, faecal transplants, using the material wisdom of those fitter, stronger and sharper than you now can mean taking on not just their early bedtimes and consistent workouts but also their genetic material. Researchers on the cutting edge are increasingly focused on studying the planet’s healthiest inhabitants and applying their freakishly robust make-up to the rest of us. Darwin would be proud.
“If you look at biomedicine, the notion is to look at unhealthy populations and what doesn’t work and how we can correct it to promote health,” says Jonathan Scheiman, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of FitBiomics, which is trying to take the opposite approach, beginning with understanding the microbiomes of so-called super performers who represent the peak of health and fitness. The company was born from intellectual property at the Wyss Institute
