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16S vs Metagenomics: What’s the Difference?

In the captivating world of microbiology, two primary methods have emerged to study the composition, structure, and function of microbial communities: 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing and metagenomics. This article will delve into a comparative analysis of these two techniques. We will explore their fundamental principles and methodologies of each sequencing method, before looking...

Advancements in biological and biomedical research are fueled by the analysis of vast, complex, integrated datasets, made possible through large-scale computational resources.   While bioinformatics has revolutionized our understanding of diseases such as cancer or COVID-19, there are costs associated with the computing requirements. On one hand, computational power requires financial process, but it may...

New research has found a way to predict the impact of prebiotics on the human gut microbiota within days, using an ex vivo, reactor-based, high-throughput SIFR® (Systemic Intestinal Fermentation Research) technology.    In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the research, its method, and what it means for the future of prebiotic research....

Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that selectively promote the growth and activity of beneficial gut microbiota, thus conferring health benefits to the host. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are prebiotics that are present in human milk and selectively stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria in infants.    A new study has investigated the effects of HMOs in...

Key Metagenomics Techniques & Their Uses

Welcome to the exciting world of metagenomics! Metagenomics is a powerful tool that allows us to study complex microbial communities in their natural environments. It has revolutionized our understanding of how microbes interact with each other and their environment, and it can help us better understand many aspects of biology, from disease diagnosis to climate...

  Did you know that there is evidence to suggest that psychosocial stress induced gut microbiome shifts have an impact on immune cell development? The interplay between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system has attracted researchers as a potential target for treating stress-related disorders such as depression and anxiety.    A new study...

The rapid decline of ecosystems on the Earth is deploring.    It is a multifaceted problem and a pillar of the problem is constituted by the overconsumption and mismanagement of plastics. Plastics released to nature crumble into smaller particles that infiltrate into trophic, feeding, chains in ecosystems and accumulate in the members of the system. ...