Probiotics could be next potential weapon to fight malnutrition

The University of British Columbia public affairs office has published today a story on probiotic intervention as the next potential weapon against malnutrition. It's the first of 10 story ideas featuring UBC researchers describing advances that are bound to change our world in 2014 and beyond.

In the future, a simple probiotic intervention may help babies fight off the harmful effects of malnutrition and preserve millions of lives. The possibility of this major advance is the first to be featured in this year's package of Next Big Thing stories from UBC News. Read more on this story here:

http://news.ubc.ca/category/next-big-thing-2014/

This year's featured advances will also include:

• Hand-me-down immunity: new maternal vaccinations  -- Dec. 18
• A new way to breed climate change-resistant forests -- Dec. 23
• The phone oximeter: mobile health revolution -- Dec. 27
• Computerized organs: expediting clinical trials -- Dec. 30
• I see you: new tools will reveal who is watching you online -- Jan 2
• Painless needles: a new kind of microneedle patch -- Jan. 7
• New 3-D tools will bring safer manufacturing materials-- Jan 9
• Synchro-medicine: new, coordinated immunotherapies -- Jan 14
• Crowdfunding research -- Jan 16

Read the comments of this years faculty guest editors: David Ng, UBC's Michael Smith Laboratories, and Paul Cubbon, UBC's Sauder School of Business:  http://news.ubc.ca/2013/12/13/a-note-from-guest-editors-david-ng-and-paul-cubbon/

These 10 story ideas were developed from more than 70 online submissions from UBC's research community: http://news.ubc.ca/nextbigthing/the-next-big-thing-submissions/

To view the 2012 edition, which included stories on medical maggots, ethical robots, and the eradication of diabetes, and all past editions visit:

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/12/19/the-next-big-thing-ubc-researchers-predict-game-changers-that-could-rock-our-world/