Excellent story on koala fecal microbiome transplant by ScienceNews drew from multiple perspectives

Reviewed by: Celina Tang and Lucas Warma

Average Score: 5 / 5

In Summary: ​Researchers discovered that fecal microbiome transfers can cause a koala to shift its eating preferences to another species of eucalyptus. This information could be helpful in koala conservation. Carolyn Wilke, the author of the ScienceNews article, steers clear of making unfounded claims. The news article included opinions of ecologists who were not a part of the research and not all of them agreed with the findings and this only strengthened the credibility of the news piece.

Original News Story

Research Article

Image by: Katherine Jiang​

Celina Tang

            ​Carolyn Wilke’s ScienceNews article shares the findings behind research that could potentially aid in conservation efforts surrounding koalas. Researchers found that by taking microbes from the feces of koalas that eat one specific type of eucalyptus, messmate, and putting it in koalas that eat manna gum eucalyptus, the koalas would eat more messmate. It was thus concluded that the greater the change in the microbial community, koalas ate more messmate, indicating that the microbiome serves as a major role in the diet of koalas.

            Wilke was able to capture the original article and its results in a concise and unbiased way. Additionally, she provided perspectives from animal ecologists that were not directly involved in the study, including one of which that did not entirely agree with the conclusions of article. Furthermore, she flawlessly ensured that aspects of the journal were thoroughly explained in a way that would be understandable to her target audience. Finally, Wilke was able to tie the findings well to its potential for contributing to conservation efforts. 

Lucas Warma

            The article, by Carolyn Wilke of ScienceNews, discusses a recent study published in Animal Microbiome that discovered the effects of fecal microbiome transfers on koala diet. They discovered that if you transferred fecal microbes from a koala with a different eucalyptus diet, the host koala would transition their feeding preferences to mimic that of the original koala. These findings have several conservation implications.

            The findings of the study are summarized accurately in this story. Wilke does not misrepresent the results and displays them in a way that is neutral yet focused. The scope of the scientific study is very centralized and could be taken out of context to be applied to other topics, which she is careful not to do. Wilke is careful not to exaggerate any claims from the article or imply the effects of the study are greater than they actually are.

            Wilke presents the findings in a well-organized manner. She includes several quotes from the primary researchers to provide context for the findings. Throughout the news story, Wilke is able to provide the reader with background information in order to create a holistic representation of the scientific study.
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            ​The author also uses numerous scientific perspectives to give helpful commentary to the subject at hand. This aims to give the reader no doubt as to the accuracy and integrity of the journalism at hand. Independent sources do not simply restate the results of the study, they add necessary expertise that emphasizes the importance of the original article. 

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