The Microbiome Project News and Research

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The human microbiome refers to the entire community of microorganisms that live on or in the human body. More specifically, it refers to all of the genes in these microbes, which include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses.

Synthetic Biologics doses first patient in SYN-004 Phase 1b trial to prevent C. difficile infection

Synthetic Biologics, Inc., a developer of pathogen-specific therapies for serious infections and diseases, with a focus on protecting the microbiome, today announced that enrollment has initiated and the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1b clinical trial of SYN-004, an investigational oral beta-lactamase enzyme for the prevention of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and secondary antibiotic-resistant infections in patients receiving intravenous (IV) beta-lactam antibiotic therapy.

31 Dec 2014

New study shows that people may inherit intestinal bacteria that cause inflammatory bowel disease

A new study by an international team of researchers shows for the first time that people may inherit some of the intestinal bacteria that cause Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively know as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study, recently published in Genome Medicine, also confirmed that antibiotics could worsen the imbalance in the gut microbes.

16 Dec 2014

Scientists validate oral vaccine delivery system to combat global health threats

Scientists at The Forsyth Institute and Tufts University have succeeded in describing and validating a unique system of oral vaccine delivery using a common bacteria found in the mouth.

16 Dec 2014

Molecular signaling pathways in the gut influence NAFLD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disorder and affects approximately 1 billion people worldwide. It is not clear how this disease develops, but recent studies suggest that the bacterial population in the gut influences NAFLD.

15 Dec 2014

Advanced prebiotic Bimuno has ability to reduce anxiety

Clasado Biosciences Limited, the producers and suppliers of the second generation prebiotic Bimuno (B-GOS), a unique trans-galactooligosaccharide, and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, today announce the results of clinical research demonstrating for the first time that an advanced prebiotic (Bimuno) has the ability to reduce anxiety.

4 Dec 2014

New microbial analysis has implications for protecting environment, energy recovery and human health

An international team of scientists from the Translational Genomics Research Institute and The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine have completed a first-of-its-kind microbial analysis of a biological wastewater treatment plant that has broad implications for protecting the environment, energy recovery and human health.

27 Nov 2014

New NIH funding to help researchers develop drug delivery system to prevent HIV infection in women

The University of Texas Medical Branch is part of a collaboration led by the Oak Crest Institute of Science that received a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a novel intravaginal ring capable of delivering powerful antiretroviral drugs to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted HIV in women. The total award to UTMB is approximately $2.5 million.

26 Nov 2014

New Mayo Clinic study shows impact of long-term use of proton pump inhibitors

Before reaching for that daily antacid, you might consider what it's doing to the trillions of bugs living in your gut. A new Mayo Clinic study in the open access journal Microbiome shows that people who regularly take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have less diversity among their gut bacteria, putting them at increased risk for infections like clostridium difficile and pneumonia, in addition to vitamin deficiencies and bone fractures.

25 Nov 2014

Johns Hopkins Medicine names eight new scholars to improve health care in India

The Center for Clinical Global Health Education at Johns Hopkins Medicine, with significant financial support from the Ujala Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation, has named eight new scholars to improve health care in India, with a particular focus on fighting tuberculosis.

18 Nov 2014

Preterm birth becomes world's number one killer of young children

For the first time in history, the complications of preterm birth outrank all other causes as the world's number one killer of young children.

17 Nov 2014

Enterome, AbbVie to develop novel diagnostic products, therapies for microbiome-related diseases

ENTEROME Bioscience SA, a pioneer in the development of therapeutic solutions (drugs and diagnostics) based on a thorough understanding of the gut microbiome, announces that it has entered into a collaborative development agreement with AbbVie.

12 Nov 2014

Salivary mucins protect teeth from cariogenic bacterium

Salivary mucins, key components of mucus, actively protect the teeth from the cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus mutans, according to research published ahead of print in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The research suggests that bolstering native defenses might be a better way to fight dental caries than relying on exogenous materials, such as sealants and fluoride treatment, says first author Erica Shapiro Frenkel, of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

11 Nov 2014

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria share resources to cause chronic infections, show studies

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can share resources to cause chronic infections, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.

20 Oct 2014

Kenneth Rainin Foundation grants $2.2 million for Inflammatory Bowel Disease research

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced today that it will grant $2.2 million to scientists to conduct Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) research. The Rainin Foundation offers support for cutting-edge projects that typically are not eligible for funding from more traditional sources due to their ground-breaking, pioneering nature.

14 Oct 2014

Probiotic yogurt protects children, pregnant women against heavy metal exposure

Yogurt containing probiotic bacteria successfully protected children and pregnant women against heavy metal exposure in a recent study.

7 Oct 2014

Diet may influence susceptibility to autoinflammatory bone disease in at-risk individuals

Diet-induced changes in the gut's bacterial ecosystem can alter susceptibility to an autoinflammatory bone disease by modifying the immune response, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists reported. The findings appeared September 28 as an advanced online publication of the scientific journal Nature.

3 Oct 2014

Antibiotic exposure in infancy linked to childhood obesity

Repeated exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics in the first two years of life is associated with early childhood obesity, say researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in a retrospective study based on data from electronic health records from the extensive CHOP Care Network.

30 Sep 2014

MicroBiome Therapeutics' NM 505 drug can improve tolerability of metformin

MicroBiome TherapeuticsTM LLC, today reported positive topline results from a proof of concept study testing whether its investigational drug, NM 505, can improve the tolerability of metformin, the first-line therapy for Type 2 diabetes worldwide.

26 Sep 2014

DNA sequencing may lead to greater care for patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia

A patient survives life-threatening trauma, is intubated in the intensive care unit (ICU) to support his or her affected vital functions, starts to recover, and then develops pneumonia.

23 Sep 2014

MIT engineers find new strategy to combat superbugs

In recent years, new strains of bacteria have emerged that resist even the most powerful antibiotics. Each year, these superbugs, including drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis and staphylococcus, infect more than 2 million people nationwide, and kill at least 23,000. Despite the urgent need for new treatments, scientists have discovered very few new classes of antibiotics in the past decade.

22 Sep 2014