Microbiome News and Research

Latest Microbiome News and Research

Researchers reveal link between necrotizing enterocolitis and uropathogenic E. coli

Necrotizing enterocolitis is an intestinal disease that afflicts about one in 10 extremely premature infants and is fatal in nearly one-third of cases. The premature infant gut is believed to react to colonizing bacteria, causing damage to the intestinal walls and severe infection.

21 Mar 2016

Study links severe early childhood caries to microbiome among Canadian First Nations children

Today at the 45th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research, researcher Robert Schroth, University of Manitoba, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, will present a study titled "Microbiome Associated With Severe Caries in Canadian First Nations Children." The AADR Annual Meeting is being held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.

19 Mar 2016

Decreased dietary diversity linked to reduced microbiotic richness

Changes in farming practices over the last 50 years have resulted in decreased agro-diversity which, in turn, has resulted in decreased dietary diversity. The significant impact of this change in dietary richness on human health is the topic of an insightful perspective in Molecular Metabolism by Mark Heiman, MicroBiome Therapeutics and Frank Greenway, Pennington Biomedical Research Center

15 Mar 2016

MU researchers discover microbiome that may be linked to male reproductive disorders

Research shows that bacteria can be beneficial to body processes such as digestion; however, some bacteria housed in the human body may cause disease. These specialized communities of bacteria in the body are known as microbiomes.

15 Mar 2016

Researchers discover potentially-pathogenic bacteria in water supply pipes

The human microbiome, a diverse collection of microorganisms living inside us and on our skin, has attracted considerable attention for its role in a broad range of human health issues. Now, researchers are discovering that the built environment also has a microbiome, which includes a community of potentially-pathogenic bacteria living inside water supply pipes.

15 Mar 2016

Russian scientists propose new technique to analyze intestinal metagenomes

A group of Russian scientists, among them staff at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, have proposed a new method for the comparison of metagenome-coupled DNA sequences from all of the organisms in a sample of biological material being investigated.

11 Mar 2016

Early life exposure to lead can alter gut microbiota, contribute to increased body weight in adulthood

Exposure to lead during early development can alter the the gut microbiota, increasing the chances for obesity in adulthood, researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health have found.

11 Mar 2016

Changes in gut bacteria strongly associated with PCOS-related obesity

Modifying gut bacteria could be a treatment option for some of the symptoms associated with the widespread disease polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to a recent study by San Diego State University researchers in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, San Diego.

8 Mar 2016

Diversigen, Baylor Miraca to provide customers access to targeted genomics and metabolomics services

Diversigen, Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive microbiome analysis services, today announced a strategic partnership with Baylor Miraca Genetics Laboratories, a global leader in genetic testing, to provide their customers access to a broad range of targeted genomics and metabolomics services.

23 Feb 2016

Understanding risk factors that contribute to childhood obesity

As the rate of obesity in the U.S. population has risen dramatically, more and more children are becoming overweight at younger and younger ages. Understanding the factors that contribute to childhood obesity and identifying ways to prevent its development are critical to stemming the historically high prevalence of childhood obesity and of associated health problems like type 2 diabetes.

22 Feb 2016

Vinegar could help fight ulcerative colitis

Vinegar is the perfect ingredient for making tangy sauces and dressings. Now, researchers report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that the popular liquid could also help fight ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that research suggests is related to the gut microbiome.

11 Feb 2016

Oral therapeutic drug shows promise against recurrent C. difficile infection

Results from a Phase 1b/2 trial suggest that an investigational microbiome-based, oral therapeutic drug is effective for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection. In a paper published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, a multi-institutional research team reports that treatment with the preparation, containing the spores of approximately 50 species of beneficial bacteria, successfully prevented recurrence of C. difficile infection (CDI) in patients with a history of multiple recurrent disease.

10 Feb 2016

UC San Diego School of Medicine launches new NAFLD Research Center

Roughly one-quarter of all Americans - an estimated 100 million adults and children - have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic condition that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.

9 Feb 2016

Gut microbes influence severity of malaria

Microorganisms in the gut could play a role in reducing the severity of malaria, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Louisville.

9 Feb 2016

New method could help physicians detect infection in wounds in less than a minute

A new method for detection of infection in wounds could take physicians less than a minute to complete, rather than the current 24 hours it takes to plate bacteria and leave it to incubate overnight, according to research by the George Washington University's Victoria Shanmugam, M.D.

7 Feb 2016

Mount Sinai researchers report new method to restore microbiome of newborns delivered via C-section

Scientists from the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, collaborating with NYU Langone Medical Center and a multi-center team of researchers, demonstrated for the first time that the microbiome of newborn babies delivered via cesarean section (C-section) can be partially restored to resemble that of vaginally delivered infants.

2 Feb 2016

Experts call for new approach to asthma and COPD patient management

Defining a patient's symptoms using the historical diagnostic labels of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an outdated approach to understanding an individual's condition, according to experts writing in the European Respiratory Journal today (Feb. 1, 2016).

1 Feb 2016

CosmosID announces $6M in Series B funding round

CosmosID, the leading genomic big data company focused on microbiome research, outbreak investigations, and infectious disease diagnostics, using next-generation DNA sequencing, announced $6M in Series B funding.

28 Jan 2016

Diet rich in fiber may reduce risk of developing lung disease

A diet rich in fiber may not only protect against diabetes and heart disease, it may reduce the risk of developing lung disease, according to new research published online, ahead of print in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

25 Jan 2016

UC San Diego researchers develop rapid susceptibility test for Staphylococcus aureus

A team of biologists and biomedical researchers at UC San Diego has developed a new method to determine if bacteria are susceptible to antibiotics within a few hours, an advance that could slow the appearance of drug resistance and allow doctors to more rapidly identify the appropriate treatment for patients with life threatening bacterial infections.

25 Jan 2016