Microbiome News and Research

Latest Microbiome News and Research

Rectal microbes could make a difference to the effectiveness of HIV vaccines

Microbes living in the rectum could make a difference to the effectiveness of experimental HIV vaccines, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis. The work is published Dec. 11 in the journal mSphere.

13 Dec 2019

New strategy could prevent side effects of targeted cancer treatment

Targeted, highly effective cancer treatments often produce debilitating side effects. This is the case with one commonly used therapy which works by blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor, a protein that stimulates cell proliferation.

13 Dec 2019

Scientists develop an approach to vaccinate against gut inflammation

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term that describes many disorders that involve chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These conditions are tied to certain alternations in the gut flora.

12 Dec 2019

Skip the sweet treats to avoid holiday blues, study suggests

If you're prone to depression, this holiday season you might want to say "bah humbug" to offers of sugar plum pudding, caramel corn and chocolate babka.

12 Dec 2019

New method reveals how microbial communities function in our bodies

In the last decade, scientists have made tremendous progress in understanding that groups of bacteria and viruses that naturally coexist throughout the human body play an important role in some vital functions like digestion, metabolism and even fighting off diseases. But understanding just how they do it remains a question.

11 Dec 2019

New system enables real-time observations of individual cells in the colon

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a system that allows for real-time observations of individual cells in the colon of a living mouse.

11 Dec 2019

Influenza IMPRINT Cohort study awarded $9.1 million boost from Open Philanthropy Project

A $30 million Influenza IMPRINT Cohort study led by Cincinnati Children's has been awarded a $9.1 million boost from the Open Philanthropy Project.

10 Dec 2019

Common antibiotic appears to boost the effect of radiation on tumor cells

The antibiotic vancomycin alters the gut microbiome in a way that can help prime the immune system to more effectively attack tumor cells after radiation therapy.

9 Dec 2019

Lactobacillus balances intestinal microbiome and ameliorates chronic alcohol-induced liver injury

Researchers demonstrated that Lactobacillus rhamnosus can dose-dependently reestablish a balanced intestinal microbiome and counter the liver-damaging effects of alcohol consumption in mice to reverse the results of chronic alcohol-induced liver injury.

9 Dec 2019

Researchers to use human bone remains for studying predictable, postmortem microbes

It's one of the most salient questions in any death investigation, and one of the first asked by both law enforcement and loved ones: Not just how, but when did a person die?

9 Dec 2019

Dead probiotic reduces age-related leaky gut in older mice, study finds

Scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have identified a dead probiotic that reduces age-related leaky gut in older mice. The study is published in the journal GeroScience.

9 Dec 2019

Genetically engineered living hydrogel material facilitates intestinal wound healing

About 1.6 million people in the US alone currently have lifelong and incurable Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and 70,000 new cases are diagnosed in the USA each year.

6 Dec 2019

Perinatal maternal antibiotic exposure may impair lung development in premature infants

New research in mice suggests that exposure to antibiotics before birth may impair lung development in premature infants. The study, the first to explore the gut-lung axis in prematurity, is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology and was chosen as an APSselect article for December.

5 Dec 2019

GW-led consortium receives $2.2 million from FDA for Biocompute Object Specification Project

A consortium led by the George Washington University (GW) has been refunded for their BioCompute Object Specification Project, thanks to a $2.2 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

4 Dec 2019

Drops containing a specific probiotic strain can reduce colic in infants

Probiotics--or "good bacteria"--have been used to treat infant colic with varying success. In a new trial published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, investigators have shown that drops containing a particular probiotic strain (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12) reduced the duration of daily crying by more than 50% in 80% of the 40 infants who received the probiotic once daily for 28 days.

4 Dec 2019

New study could help prevent fatal infections in babies

Premature infants born before 28-30 weeks of life are at high risk for many complications, among which the chances of dying from an infection starting in the intestine are very great. A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine reports that such infections are very much more likely if something interferes with the normal microbial accumulation in the gut. Adding certain bacterial strains protects against such infections, on the other hand.

3 Dec 2019