Imagine a bustling metropolis within our bodies, where trillions of microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, viruses, and more—live and interact in a delicate balance. This ecosystem, known as the microbiome, is far from static. It’s a dynamic and ever-changing environment that plays a crucial role in our health and disease. Scientists have explored the hidden microbial world, uncovering its role in gut health and its broader influence across various research areas. Shaped by environmental factors and enhanced by new technologies, explore recent stories showcasing these breakthroughs.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed the Microbial Tides
No two gut microbiomes are exactly alike, especially between infants and adults. The adult microbiome is stable and influenced to an extent by dietary and lifestyle factors. However, the infant microbiome undergoes rapid changes during the first weeks, months, and years of life, shaped by their delivery and milk intake. But what happens to this delicate microbial ecosystem when a global pandemic sweeps across the globe and disrupts daily life? Developmental psychologist Sarah Vogel was working at New York University when lockdown restrictions brought the flow of research to a trickle: one microbiome project remained open. She and her colleagues took this opportunity to study how the infant microbiome diversity would suffer from the lockdown by analyzing stool samples.
Discover how the pandemic reshaped the infant microbiome in the full story.
Getting the Scoop on Stool
Scientists at NIST combine stool from multiple donors to make a homogeneous reference material that can be frozen and distributed.
Deb Ellisor, NIST
While gut microbiome studies are widespread, there’s no way of comparing results. Stool analysis can produce different results from the same sample, so researchers worldwide are working to generate consistent and reliable standards for analyzing these microbial treasure troves. This prompted the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to initiate a standardization project. Scott Jackson, leader of the microbiology group at NIST, was up for the challenge. With batches of more homogenous stool, Jackson and other researchers hope to solve reproducibility issues, which is essential for the development of diagnostic and clinical tools, microbiome-based drugs, and enhancing microbiome research overall.
Dig deeper and see how researchers are setting new stool standards in this article.
CRISPR Gives the Microbiome a Makeover
Developing new tools to engineer the microbiome is a key goal of microbiome engineer James Marsh, who wants to develop techniques to genetically reprogram non-model inhabitants of the gut microbiome.
Meghna Chatterjee
With the availability of advanced genome-editing tools, such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), many scientists see tremendous potential in modulating the microbiome. However, only a small percent of microbes (such as Escherichia coli) in the microbiome can be genetically manipulated. This prompted James Marsh at the Max Planck Institute for Biology to develop techniques to reprogram non-model inhabitants of the gut microbiome. A CRISPR-powered facelift of the microbiome holds much promise for exploring the unique and seemingly endless possibilities. For instance, Rodolphe Barrangou at North Carolina State University repurposed native CRISPR systems to enhance probiotics and antimicrobials, effectively finding new ways to promote health and treat disease. By slowly harnessing the power of these genetic and microbial tools, the future of CRISPR microbiomes seems bright.
Find out how CRISPR’s giving the microbiome a fresh new look in the full story.
Vitamin D and the Microbiome: A Power-Packed Duo Against Cancer
Next, it’s time to shine light on an unexpected player—vitamin D. Many are familiar with vitamin D’s benefits in bone growth and development and the ways to get the recommended doses, by catching the sun’s rays and eating foods rich in vitamin D. However, researchers like Caetano Reis e Sousa and his team at The Francis Crick Institute came across a surprising result linking vitamin D to a local gut resident that works synergistically to modulate the immune system. This unexpected connection underscores the promise of vitamin D in new applications, transforming how researchers explore the intricate interactions among microbes, vitamin D, and the immune system.
Learn more about this serendipitous cancer-fighting combo here.
As researchers uncover the mysteries of this microbial metropolis, these microscopic inhabitants have a huge impact on one’s health. With advancing technologies and a better grasp of environmental influences, researchers are poised to leverage these microscopic allies to improve health and treat disease. The future of personalized medicine may hinge on this dynamic, hidden world within us. Subscribe to The Scientist to stay up to date on the latest news in life sciences.
