Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Finds More Microbes than Ever in the Human Body
For years, we thought our bodies were fortresses, fighting off microbes. This idea of sterility in areas like the brain or bladder has dominated medical understanding. But this view is incomplete. Our bodies are complex ecosystems, and the microbiome creates and sustains them.
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) has challenged these sterility assumptions. This technology lets us see the microscopic world in detail, revealing diverse microbial communities within us.
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Unveiling the Secrets of the Microbiome
This isn’t just about finding new microbes. It’s also about reframing how we view health and human disease. The microbiome is a complex community of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms living in a specific environment.
Think of it as a rainforest inside your body. Your gut, skin, mouth, and even areas once believed sterile, house unique microbiome populations. Each person's microbiome is unique, shaped by their diet, environmental factors, and early life experiences.
Challenging Sterility Assumptions in the Urinary System
The urinary tract is one important area where the microbiome exists. For decades, we assumed the bladder was sterile in healthy individuals, believing bacteria in urine meant infection.
But NGS is changing this. Studies using NGS have found bacteria and fungi in healthy canine bladders (microbiome research). This raises questions about how we diagnose and treat UTIs. If bacteria are often present, do “asymptomatic UTIs” really mean infection?
Could an imbalanced bladder microbiome be a factor in UTI development? Like our gut, the urinary tract can be affected by gut dysbiosis and the growth of harmful microbes. This imbalance can lead to a lack of beneficial commensals, contributing to urinary tract issues.
The Gut Microbiome and Your Well-being
The gut is central to microbiome research, especially its link to overall wellness (gut microbiota). Research shows an imbalanced gut microbiome (gut dysbiosis) is linked to many health conditions.
It affects not only digestion, but also the immune system and potentially the brain. Diet (high fat diets, dietary fibers), stress, sleep, alcohol, and other lifestyle factors all affect gut microbes, which then influence short-chain fatty acids production. This then influences how your body functions overall.
Factors impacting microbial diversity also affect functions like insulin sensitivity, adiposity, inflammation, and gut permeability. These interconnected markers influence host metabolism, offering opportunities for data science and computational biology research within human subjects. It goes much deeper than gene to gene interaction, looking more at total aggregate pathway response to stimulus and pathway to pathway interaction basis rather than what has previously been believed which is the former gene interaction paradigm mentioned.
How to Support a Healthy Microbiome
Supporting your microbiome is easier than you think. Making healthy food choices is key. Focus on eating many different kinds of fruits, vegetables, and fiber, feeding both you and your gut bacteria.
Fiber nourishes your microbes, promoting a healthy gut. Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome can positively influence a wide variety of physiological responses and markers including blood sugar regulation, fat storage and inflammation. Bacterial diversity contributes to the production of bile acids, influencing metabolic processes.
| Food | Benefit to Microbiome |
|---|---|
| Fruits and vegetables | Provide diverse fibers and nutrients for microbial growth. |
| Whole grains | High in fiber, supporting beneficial microbes. |
| Fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut) | Introduce beneficial bacteria directly into your gut. |
| Prebiotics (garlic, onions, bananas) | Feed beneficial bacteria, promoting a balanced gut. |
| Polyphenol-Rich Foods (e.g., blueberries, cocoa, grapes, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, and dark chocolate) | Positively impact metabolism via the production of small molecules impacting microbe density. |
Diet alone isn't a complete solution, as environmental stress (heat, toxins), and exercise also affect the microbiome through shifts in microfloral density, via a multitude of inter-pathway-based effects. Most yogurt on the shelves in stores is already pasteurized and devoid of probiotics. Understanding how to improve gut health involves addressing all factors to achieve optimal balance, potentially even influencing trimethylamine n-oxide (TMAO) levels which has potential long term implications we should study further.
Conclusion
Since our bodies are ecosystems, not sterile machines fighting germs, as we learn more about the human microbiome project, we begin to develop a greater understanding of its far-reaching influence, potentially encompassing links to issues like irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and even farming via animal models or implications related to antibiotic resistance.
Further research will reveal even more about microbial communities, human health, and the potential of translational science. The ever evolving nature of data science, coupled with research on human subjects and relevant program highlights will allow for us to understand new solutions with microbiome modulation related to its role in overall wellness and human disease. So much more will continue to be revealed as we continue this pursuit within microbiome science.
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