We are…
A collective archive of vaginal microbiomes grown and documented by participants themselves.
By sharing cultures from different bodies and menstrual cycles, the project makes microbial diversity visible and explores an ecosystem that remains largely understudied.
The criminally understudied Microbiome:
The vaginal microbiome plays an important role in reproductive and urogenital health, yet it remains one of the least studied microbial ecosystems of the human body. Much research still relies on a narrow model of vaginal health, often linking it to a stable and “pure” microbial composition. However, emerging studies suggest a different picture: vaginal microbiomes are dynamic and diverse, changing across menstrual cycles and varying between individuals. At the same time, many studies are based on small sample sizes and rarely follow microbial changes closely over time.
This project begins from that gap.
We invite people with vaginas to culture their own vaginal microbiome at home and upload images of the cultures to a shared archive. By gathering contributions from participants around the world, the project aims to reveal the diversity of vaginal microbial life, raise awareness about this often overlooked ecosystem, and encourage deeper scientific engagement with the topic.
The archive will also become a space for creative exploration. The collected microbial cultures can later be shared through exhibitions, publications, and public presentations, making this largely invisible ecosystem visible.
Our Idea:
We collect images of vaginal microbiome cultures from women and people with vaginas all over the world and bring them together in a shared online archive.
Participants grow their microbiome cultures at home using simple household materials and upload photographs of the plates. Each image captures microbial growth at a specific moment in a menstrual cycle.
Together, these images create a visual archive that shows how vaginal microbiomes differ across bodies and change over time.
By collecting and sharing these images, the project makes microbial diversity visible and encourages greater scientific attention to this still underexplored ecosystem.