It's all about the probiotics.

An impressive new study from scientists at the University of Utah has described how an impaired immune system can alter the composition of the gut microbiome resulting in metabolic disease and obesity. Demonstrated in mouse experiments, the research suggests certain species of gut bacteria can prevent the gut from absorbing fat, pointing to exciting potential future anti-obesity therapies.

Getting up close – and a little dirty – with farm animals just might help us fend off illness, say researchers who’ve further demonstrated the benefits of early exposure to a wide variety of environmental bacteria.

The donor stool had not been tested for the drug-resistant bacteria before the procedure, the FDA noted.

Predictive model to distinguish IBD from IBS via gut microbial composition data proved more accurate than did current fecal biomarker calprotectin.

The Hirslanden Clinic looked at the “bacterial load in colony-forming units (CFU) of human-pathogenic microorganisms” in swabs taken from 18 men’s beards and 30 dogs’ necks. All of the guys with beards had high microbial counts, but only 23 of the 30 dogs had the same high count.

There are more than 1,000 species of bacteria fighting deep inside your body. But what does the makeup of that bacteria tell us about our health? Your digestive system is about seven metres long — dank folded passageways filled with rotting food and faeces and slick with bile.

Now Germany’s Bayer AG, which bought the agriculture giant last year, faces a claim that it deceived home gardeners about Roundup’s impact on their gut bacteria and their health.

Scientists in China report that differences in the abundance of various types of bacteria living on the tongue can distinguish patients with early pancreatic cancer from healthy individuals. The researchers, headed by a team at Zhejiang University, say that their findings could feasibly help direct the development of diagnostic tests for pancreatic cancer or even hint at new approaches to preventing the disease.

Study finds stool transplants from some donors are far more effective than others

The central nervous system (CNS) and the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract communicate through the gut-brain axis (GBA). Such communication is bi-directional and involves neuronal, endocrine, and immunological mechanisms. There is mounting data that gut microbiota is the source of a number of neuroactive and immunocompetent substances, which shape the structure and function of brain regions involved in the control of emotions, cognition, and physical activity. Most GI diseases are associated with altered transmission within the GBA that are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Current treatment protocols for GI and non-GI...

Earth is teeming with life miles beneath the surface, scientists have discovered, leading to speculation that our distant ancestors may even have evolved deep underground. Researchers at the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) said they had found barely-living ‘zombie’ bacteria and tiny worms, inhabiting entirely new ecosystems more than three miles into the crust. The lifeforms are so numerous that their mass may be up to 385 times that of all humans.

Bacteria that absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) and potentially turns itself into a food source for other sea creatures has been discovered in one of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists were studying the ecosystems in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), a trench that extends 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the ocean. The area is currently being explored for its deep sea mining potential—contractors from nations including Korea, Germany and the U.K. believe the site to be a promising source of polymetallic nodules, which contain metals like nickel, copper and cobalt.

For the microbiologist Justin Sonnenburg, that career-defining moment—the discovery that changed the trajectory of his research, inspiring him to study how diet and native microbes shape our risk for disease—came from a village in the African hinterlands.

We know the menagerie of microbes in the gut has powerful effects on our health. Could some of these same bacteria be making a home in our brains? A poster presented here this week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience drew attention with high-resolution microscope images of bacteria apparently penetrating and inhabiting the cells of healthy human brains.

Preliminary finding turns heads at neuroscience meeting

Probiotics are a booming business, with sales in the billions of dollars each year and millions of customers in the US alone. Companies claim that the microbial concoctions can help consumers do anything from lose weight to sleep better, but researchers report inconsistent effects on people’s microbiomes.

Contrary to what you might have been told, IBS is not just all in your head! Here you will learn about the main reasons why people end up with IBS.

Giving children with autism a healthier mix of gut bacteria as a way to improve behavioral symptoms continued to work even two years after treatment ended. The finding may solidify the connection between tummy troubles and autism, and provide more evidence that the gut microbiome — the collection of bacteria and other microbes that live in the intestines — can influence behavior.

Alterations in gut microbiota are postulated to be an etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To determine whether IBS patients in China exhibited differences in their gut microbial composition, fecal samples were collected from diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) and healthy controls