Another Reason to Drink – Cheese Made From Human Toe Bacteria

We’ve got to admit that we weren’t all that comfortable when Rogue Ales came up with their beard beer project last year. But upon hearing that a scientist and scent specialist had actually made cheese using skin bacteria – we’ve decided that things have gotten truly scary and that this terrible madness needs to end!

Dezeen Magazine broke this story wide earlier this week and it sent shudders across what’s left of the civilized world. They reported that American scientist Christina Agapakis and Norwegian scent specialist Sissel Tolaas have been dabbling in the unthinkable and have actually created “human cheeses” made with (among other repulsive things) belly button and toe bacteria. These body cheeses (the results of an art and synthetic biology project they’ve dubbed ‘Selfmade‘) made their debut at an exhibition in Dublin – and the world forever changed.

The installation displays eleven cheeses made from bacterial cultures taken from the skin of artists, anthropologists, scientists, and cheese makers (we wouldn’t want to see them overlooked) and reportedly Agapakis  goes on to state that “the cheeses each smell, and taste, of the body odor of the donor.” Yikes!

In their artistic statement about the project, Agapakis and Tolaas explained that they hope to focus attention on human bacteria (mission accomplished!), their importance and potential, and to overcome a cultural fear of micro-organisms (we’re less sure about that part).

We fear that there has been a paradigm shift of immense proportions and we worry that what’s been unleashed in Dublin can never be put back in a box. Will we ever think of our toes, arm pits, or even belly buttons the same way? Has the grilled cheese sandwich forever taken on a new and darker meaning?

And even more concerning…

Will we be seeing Beard Beer and Toe Cheese pairings in the future?

We need another drink….

(Front page image credit: www.craftbeer.com)