The health of our gut is essential to the everyday function of our body — our gut focuses on the breaking down, transfer and excretion of the food we eat. As such, the balance of bacteria within our gut especially when it comes to breaking down molecules. In particular, the bacteria in the lumen of our colons “ferment the carbohydrates to short chain fatty acids, which are absorbed to provide a second energy source” (Warell, Cox and Firth). Due to the importance of bacteria within the gut, research and advancement in the gut weighs heavily on our ability to interact with problems involving digestion — obesity being a prominent one.

At the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, 173 species of bacteria were sequenced for the first time, including 105 species that were isolated for the first time as well. It’s incredible that so many species were identified and isolated for the first time all in one institution. To those who don’t know, DNA sequencing is a process that determines the genetic details of a DNA section: in this case, the DNA sequencing helps scientists determine the genetic information of gut bacteria. This genetic information is highly useful in determining the effects of bacteria — as DNA directly affects the production of proteins, like enzymes in the gut.

While research on the gut relied on mixed-samples of gut bacteria, this new research frees scientists to better identify and isolate each component species. The very foundation of bacteria research has shifted with so many species of bacteria finally open to more specific experimentation, and I’m so excited to see that even the basics of gut research has completely advanced. Not only does this show us the ever-changing advancement of how scientists conduct research and create experiments, but this also holds so much hope for the future: our gut holds importance within our day to day well being, and the ability to conduct much more specific experiments will open up our ability to treat different gastrointestinal disorders.

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