Belly Button Biodiversity
Dashboard

About This Research

"The belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored. In January 2011, we launched Belly Button Biodiversity to investigate the microbes inhabiting our navels and the factors that might influence the microscopic life calling this protected, moist patch of skin home. In addition to inspiring scientific curiosity, Belly Button Biodiversity inspired conversations about the beneficial roles microbes play in our daily lives."
On the right, is a fragment of a documentary about this project.

Source: The Public Science Lab

Dashboard

Use the interactive charts below to explore the dataset. Select a test subject ID number in a dropdown menu to see the relative sample results.

The bubble chart represents a whole range of microbial species found in a sample of a particular test subject. Hovering over each bubble shows bacteria name with its value and its OTU ID number (for better experience, select “Show closest data on hover” tool from a top right corner of a chart). In this study, OTU means operational taxonomic unit.

The bar chart demonstrates 10 dominant microbial species for a selected test subject. Hover over each bar to see scientific name of a bacteria and its sample value.

The gauge indicator shows belly button washing frequency per week. For some test subjects this information is missing, and in a case of such selection, the gauge indicator is not visible, and the washing frequency is expressed as a dash.

Occasionally, things can go wrong during a research in a laboratory, and a sample can get accidentally corrupted or destroyed. As a result, a few samples in this dataset do not have any values and produce empty charts, but they are still a part of the dataset.

Test Subject ID
Demographic Info