Protecting probiotics from the stomach

The small intestine is a hotbed of microbial activity and a target of probiotic treatments for diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, among other conditions. To make it to the intestine, though, ...

Dietary fiber and microbes change the gel that lines our gut

In the ongoing hustle and bustle of our intestines, where bacteria and food regularly intermingle, there is another substance that, to the surprise of researchers, has been found to rapidly change: the gel that lines the ...

Bacteria become 'genomic tape recorders'

MIT engineers have transformed the genome of the bacterium E. coli into a long-term storage device for memory. They envision that this stable, erasable, and easy-to-retrieve memory will be well suited for applications such ...