Inner Space. Lynn, I didn't intentionally include this one to contrast with NASA. But what we're talking about is inner space. Inner space versus the outer space like ocean exploration. Another inner space on a microbiological scale is the one actually within ourselves. Now, the two previous speakers were talking about field work. Okay, that's okay. I agree that it's really exciting. In fact, I have a friend that's a marine microbiologist and he's very into this field work thing; he's enthusiastic in everything he does. But I would also suggest that in our area, in antibiotic development, the field work is in the human body because microbes of interest to us are the disease producing and normal inhabitants carried in and on the human body. We do a lot of our initial testing in a test tube. So truly the field, evaluation, is in the clinic. That's in dealing with human beings and the creatures in and on their body.

Personal - Oral Cavity. Okay, oral cavity for instance. You want an ecosystem? I'm saying you can spend much more than a lifetime studying this area. In fact you would have to get everyone in this room would have to be participating in trying to figure this system out. Because you have a huge population of aerobic and anaerobic organisms. An anaerobe is a creature that cannot live in the presence of air. Notice I said cannot live in the presence of air. See, we're aerobes. Right? You put a noose around our neck and we're done pretty quickly when you cut off our air supply. But there are many, the majority of organisms I would say, certainly capable of growing in the absence of air ,but many that cannot grow in the presence of air. Totally unable to handle the activated oxygen species generated by metabolism. In saliva, there are approximately 100 million microorganisms per ml. I could take a sample from any person and find that population of microbes. I guarantee it. I would take bets on that one. I can get 100 million microorganisms from any one of you. Just as was said this morning about sampling the crusts of earth, the specific area sampled is extremely important. For example, if sampling for the bacteria occurring on teeth, I am telling you, you would get different results from samples taken from one tooth surface to another in your own mouth.

The ecosystem of the oral cavity is rather complicated. For example this large bacterial population is composed 50% anaerobes 50% aerobes. How in the heck could there be anaerobes in the mouth? We're sucking in oxygen. I just said we're strict aerobes. Well, what happens is that you have an ecosystem where the microbes that are aerobic grow so rapidly in the presence of air and the generous supply of nutrients in the mouth that their metabolism takes out the oxygen in large variety of micro spaces within the oral cavity. This creates environments in which the anaerobes can survive and thrive. Of those of you that are over 30, and I'm well over 30, many of you may have some form of periodontal disease (bone lose and destruction of the periodontal membrane). Well, actually, periodontal disease is associated with increase populations of anaerobic microorganisms.

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