A complete analysis of the microbiome should combine taxonomic profiling with functional characterization to discover the full potential of an entire community of microorganisms. However, research teams often require specialized training and extensive computational infrastructure to establish an in-house suite of tools for processing shotgun metagenomic data – and even with the right know-how, the...
A recent article in the New York Times highlights the discovery of the presence of distinct sets of fungi, in addition to bacteria, in different tumor tissues across body sites. Scientists have been long aware that our bodies host microbes but had the preconception that tumors did not harbor microbes, along with many other organs...
A recent article featured on BBC highlights that the gut microbiome may have a greater role in the improvement of health through exercise than we previously thought. Our guts are alive with a vast diversity of microbial residents. Their roles range from fermenting dietary fibers, vitamin synthesis, and fat metabolism regulation to immune support against...
The development of DNA sequencing technologies has created a large amount of data on microbes that live with human hosts. Analysis of this data has led to an understanding of the links between the human microbiome, pathogen defense, food digestion and even human behavior. Before the development of mass DNA sequencing technologies, we could analyze...
Diet drinks that contain non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) have been around for more than 60 years. Since the dawn of the diet drink introduction to the market, a fizzing debate began; do the sweeteners, including aspartame, saccharine, sucralose and stevia, do more harm than good? Are they just innocent satisfiers of our urge to consume sweets...
The skin is the body’s first line of defense, protecting the host against environmental or microbial insults by the imposition of a physical barrier. Upon microbial entry into wounds, innate immune cells generate antimicrobial proteins to prevent bacterial infections. A well-studied example is the innate immune circuits of IL-17 and IL-22, which are activated by...
Plastic particles < 5 mm are classified as microplastics. Microplastics are present in almost all aquatic ecosystems, from the Arctic to the deep ocean. Moreover, microplastics can migrate between different aquatic environments, such as lakes, seas and oceans. This environmental problem becomes a health concern when the microplastics enter into a new aquatic ecosystem where...
Cats are notorious for excessive food intake and lazing around all day. When combined with a lack of physical activity, excess calories take the form of adipose tissue, or fat. Domestic cat obesity is an epidemic with a current prevalence of 45%, meaning almost 1 in 2 domestic cats are obese. Obesity in cats is...
Bladder cancer (BC) is the fourth most prevalent cancer in men and 11th in women. Environmental toxins that enter the body are eventually excreted through kidneys, and they interact with the urinary tract microbiome to generate metabolites that may contribute to the development of BC. Members of the microbiome impact production of HBDs2 and 3...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing threat to human health, both locally and globally. AMR genes increase the resistance of microbes against common antibiotics, making infections increasingly difficult to treat. Different microbes may bear different AMR genes, and different AMR genes may confer variable resistance against different antimicrobials. All AMR genes in a community constitute...
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