Washington University scientists have grown personalized collections of intestinal microbes in the laboratory. The research sets the stage for identifying new probiotics and evaluating whether microbe transplants can restore the natural balance of intestinal bacteria in “sick” microbial communities.
Each of us carries a unique collection of trillions of friendly microbes in our intestines that helps break down food our bodies otherwise couldn’t digest.
This relationship between humans and their microbes is generally a healthy one, but changes to the mix of microbes in the digestive tract are suspected to play a role in obesity, malnutrition, Crohn’s disease and other ailments.
Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can grow and manipulate personalized collections of human intestinal microbes in the laboratory and pluck out particular microbes of interest.
The research sets the stage for identifying new probiotics and evaluating in preclinical trials whether microbe transplants can restore the natural balance of intestinal bacteria in “sick” microbial communities.
The research, by Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director of the Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology, and his team is reported online March 21 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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