The gastrointestinal microbiome as a biological process encompasses the dynamic interactions, succession, and functional activities of microbial communities residing along the digestive tract and their continuous crosstalk with the host. It involves microbial colonization, competition, and cooperation; fermentation of dietary substrates; synthesis and biotransformation of metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids and bile acid derivatives; modulation of epithelial barrier integrity; and regulation of local and systemic immune responses. This process is characterized by context-dependent compositional shifts (e.g., in response to diet, xenobiotics, and inflammation) that influence host metabolism, signaling pathways, and susceptibility to gastrointestinal and extraintestinal diseases.
Everywhere you go, you carry a population of microbes in your gastrointestinal tract that outnumber the human cells making up your body.
Evolution
Oct 9, 2025
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221
Abdominal pain is a hallmark of many digestive disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. In an effort to develop targeted treatments for gut pain, scientists have discovered a new enzyme ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 7, 2025
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87
Malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all deaths in children under the age of five worldwide. Those who survive can still experience lifelong consequences like cognitive and developmental delays, impaired academic ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 13, 2025
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103
The gut microbiome, also known as the gut flora, is essential for health. This complex and dynamic community of microorganisms is governed by numerous chemical interactions between the microorganisms themselves and with their ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 27, 2025
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28
Flinders University experts are exploring evidence that microbes in the soil and the environments around us can affect human microbiota and the "gut-brain axis," potentially shaping emotional states and relationship dynamics—including ...
Ecology
Aug 26, 2025
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439
It turns out those cellulose-based thickening agents found in common foods can be digested. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that our gut bacteria can feed on these large molecules—something thought ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 12, 2025
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2290
Joint research has, for the first time, ascertained the composition of the intestinal microbiome of the indri, a critically endangered lemur only found in the north-east of Madagascar. The study is a collaboration between ...
Ecology
Aug 5, 2025
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57
A smartphone-controlled ingestible capsule that can control and allow for two-way communication with gut bacteria in pigs is reported in Nature Microbiology. The findings could lay the foundation for new diagnostic and treatment ...
Biotechnology
Jul 29, 2025
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29
If an intestinal inhabitant such as the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli) becomes resistant to many antibiotics, it can cause serious health problems if it enters the bloodstream. How can such potentially dangerous multi-resistant ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 3, 2025
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34
PFAS have been linked with a range of health issues including decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, and a higher risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 1, 2025
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182
