Gut microbes targeted for diagnosis, treatment of childhood undernutrition
Guided by the immune system, researchers have identified types of gut bacteria in both healthy and undernourished children in Malawi that are linked to nutritional health and that have diagnostic and therapeutic implications for childhood undernutrition.
Mothers can pass traits to offspring through bacteria’s DNA
The DNA of
bacteria that live in the body can pass a trait to offspring in a way
similar to the parents’ own DNA, a new mouse study suggests. According to the authors, the discovery means
scientists need to consider a significant new factor – microbial DNA– in their efforts to understand
how genes influence illness and health.