Would you eat cheese cultivated from your armpit sweat or toe jam? No? Then you should rethink your prejudices about bacteria
CHRISTINA AGAPAKIS stood in her kitchen trying to decide whether she had the nerve to eat what was in front of her. On the worktop sat four blobs of cheese – but not just any stinky fromage. Agapakis, who is a synthetic biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, had made the stuff with bacteria from her armpit, nose and toes.
"Each one had a very different smell," she says. "Some were dry and brittle and yellow, others were more yogurty". Surely she wouldn't dare taste it. Would she?
Agapakis picked up a chunk and popped it in her mouth. If you're wondering why anybody would do such a thing, well, she has her reasons. Agapakis is on a mission to change our ideas about the role of ...
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