Gut bacteria genome sequencing may prove crucial for treatment
Tuesday 18th January 2011
Researchers in biomedical science jobs have gathered more evidence that could be used to help better understand necrotising enterocolitis.
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed and sequenced the genomes of the microbes found in the gut of premature newborn babies.
In addition, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have documented how populations of microbes in the gut change over time.
One of the most interesting findings to emerge from the research, which could prove crucial to tracking the development of disease in the future, is the discovery of minor differences in near identical bacterial genomes that can be enough to make one a greater threat than another.
Commenting on the findings, lead researcher Jill Banfield said: "We expect that a lot of the issues with the colonisation process in the gut that leads to disease may be tracked to subtle differences in strains.
"So one question on the table is, 'Are these very closely related strains physiologically distinct, and in what ways'?"
Recent research published in the journal Microbiology suggested that bacteria naturally present in the gut could help to protect against cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
Written by Megan Smith
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