It premieres globally this Friday.

University College Cork (UCC) and APC Microbiome Ireland (APC) scientist Professor John Cryan is featured in a new Netflix documentary on the fascinating world of gut science, making some pretty complex research accessible to the general public.

Hack Your Health: Secrets of the Gut hits our screens on April 26th, 2024, illuminating the intricate science behind the gut microbiome, the community of bacteria, viruses and other microbes that reside within our intestines.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Anjali Nayar, the film follows four individuals on a quest to understand the importance of the gut to their health. Featuring interviews with leading researchers from prestigious institutions worldwide and best-selling author Giulia Enders, the documentary underscores the global significance of gut health research.

“Our gut affects our whole body; it influences everything,” said Professor Cryan, a leading scientific investigator in the APC, a pioneering research centre based at UCC known for its trailblazing work in microbiome science.

“Gut science has been the hottest area for the last decade or more. Anxiety, depression, cancer, autism, and Parkinson’s Disease are all related to the gut.”

Here’s the trailer:

This revelation comes at a time when the scientific community and the public increasingly recognise the gut microbiome’s importance in overall health and well-being.

Since its inception in 2003, the APC’s work has been pivotal in understanding the complex interactions between gut microbiota and human health, marking it as a global leader in this exciting field. Prof. Cryan and his team have made pioneering discoveries implicating the gut microbiome in brain function and mental health.

Now Netflix will bring their message to its audience of over 260 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries.