Fungi in the gut prime immunity against infection

Common fungi, often present in the gut, teach the immune system how to respond to their more dangerous relatives, according to new research from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. Breakdowns in this process can leave people ...

A new method for assessing the microbiome of the human gut

The gut microbiome—the population and variety of bacteria within the intestine—is thought to influence a number of behavioral and disease traits in humans. Most obviously, it affects intestinal health. Cancer, inflammatory ...

Researchers discover how natural drug fights inflammation

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered how abscisic acid, a natural plant hormone with known beneficial properties for the treatment of disease, helps fight inflammation. The ...

Space travel can make the gut leaky

Bacteria, fungi, and viruses can enter our gut through the food we eat. Fortunately, the epithelial cells that line our intestines serve as a robust barrier to prevent these microorganisms from invading the rest of our bodies.

Microbes seen controlling action of host's genes

All animals—from sea sponges to modern-day humans—evolved in a world already teeming with microbes. These single-celled microorganisms now cover practically every surface of our bodies and are as much a part of our biology ...

More than 100 new gut bacteria discovered in human microbiome

Scientists working on the gut microbiome have discovered and isolated more than 100 completely new species of bacteria from healthy people's intestines. The study from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hudson Institute of Medical ...

Eradicating dangerous bacteria may cause permanent harm

In the zeal to eliminate dangerous bacteria, it is possible that we are also permanently killing off beneficial bacteria as well, posits Martin Blaser, MD, Frederick H. King Professor of Medicine, professor of Microbiology ...

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