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"uBiome is a citizen science project that allows the public access to cutting edge sequencing technology to understand their health through the microbiome. How does the microbiome affect my health? We are all covered in trillions of microbes -- in fact, they outnumber human cells 10:1. The trillions of bacteria live on and in us are collectively called the microbiome. Like the rainforest, the healthy human microbiome is a balanced ecosystem. The correct balance of microbes keeps potential pathogens in check and regulates our immune system. Microbes also perform essential functions such as digesting food and synthesizing vitamins. Studies have also linked the microbiome to human mood and behavior, as well as many gut disorders, eczema, and chronic sinusitis."

"People swap bacteria all the time-through sneezes and coughs, through hugs and sex, or through touching the same surfaces. Then there are people who swap bacteria because a doctor deliberately transplants faeces from one into the other. This isn't a bizarre medical perversion. It's usually a life-saving gambit. Faecal transplants-which are exactly what they sound like-are used to treat people who suffer from intense diarrhoea following rounds of antibiotics. The goal is simple: recalibrate the beneficial bacteria in a person's gut to fight off the ones that are causing them harm."

""Die Viren scheinen genauso häufig zu sein wie die SAR1-Bakterien selbst", sagte Giovannoni. Sie töten ständig Unmengen von ihnen. Offenbar sind die SAR11-Bakterien aber in der Lage, sich an die Bedrohung anzupassen und dadurch ihre Population stabil zu halten, sagen die Forscher. Es gibt also demnach ein ständiges Wettrüsten zwischen den Meeresbakterien und ihren viralen Feinden. Das Wissen über dieses Zusammenspiel sei ein wichtiges Puzzleteil beim Verständnis der Stoffkreisläufe im Ozean. Das Gleichgewicht im Kampf zwischen SAR11-Bakterien und Pelagiphagen beeinflusst letztendlich alles Leben auf unserem Planeten, resümieren die Wissenschaftler. Stephen Giovannoni (Oregon State University) et al.: Nature, doi:10.1038/nature11921 "

"When the right microorganisms are at work, immune cells involved in the development of autoimmune illnesses like psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and arthritis, can develop anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland, have now made this discovery. Their work is published in the current issue of the scientific journal Nature*. The scientists were able to prove that particular fungi activate the immune cells involved in the development of certain illnesses, whereas other microorganisms, in particular bacteria that are found naturally on our skin, lend an anti-inflammatory function to them. "This not only demonstrates that the composition of our microflora has a decisive role in the development of chronic illnesses, but also that the key cells causing illness can develop an anti-inflammatory 'twin'," explained Dr. Christina Zielinski, first author of the study."

"For 20 years, researchers have reported a potential link between gum disease and atherosclerotic heart disease from hardening of the arteries or stroke. "The message sent out by some in health-care professions, that heart attack and stroke are directly linked to gum disease, can distort the facts, alarm patients and perhaps shift the focus on prevention away from well-known risk factors for these diseases," said Dr. Peter Lockhart, a professor and chair of oral medicine at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. Lockhart wrote the heart group's new position statement in the journal Circulation. The statement was prepared after a three-year analysis of about 600 studies by an expert panel led by a dentist and a cardiologist."

"Durch die Ergebnisse der Genanalyse vorgewarnt ließ Michael Snyder regelmäßig seine Blutzuckerwerte untersuchen. Zu Beginn der Studie waren sie noch normal, dies änderte sich allerdings plötzlich nach einer Grippeinfektion. Die Erkrankung hatte offenbar die Entwicklung des Typ-2-Diabetes in Gang gesetzt. Doch durch die frühzeitigen Veränderungen seiner Ernährung, durch Bewegung und leichte Medikamente konnte der Wissenschaftler den Blutzuckerspiegel wie"

"Mice have a jungle of bacteria, viruses and fungi in their stomachs-and so do we. These microorganisms help both mice and us break down dinner. As we are finding, these bugs also help to regulate the immune system. But we are just starting to learn how these tiny organisms influence us and how changing their composition changes us... Interestingly, though, the mice with these microbes did not: their immune systems remained underdeveloped. Even when researchers gave rat microbiota to mice, the mice's immune systems failed to mature"

"Hundreds of species of bacteria call the human gut their home. This gut "microbiome" influences our physiology and health in ways that scientists are only beginning to understand. Now, a new study suggests that gut bacteria can even mess with the mind, altering brain chemistry and changing mood and behavior. In recent years, researchers have become increasingly interested in how gut bacteria might influence the brain and behavior, says John Cryan, a neuroscientist at University College Cork in Ireland. So far, most of the work has focused on how pathogenic bugs influence the brain by releasing toxins or stimulating the immune system, Cryan says. One recent study suggested that even benign bacteria can alter the brain and behavior, but until now there has been very little work in this area, Cryan says."

"Was die Zellzahl angeht, besteht jeder Mensch zu 90 Prozent aus Mikroben", sagt Dennis Kasper von der Harvard Medical School in Boston. Die Hauptmasse dieser Mitbewohner des menschlichen Körpers lebt im Darm. Sie unterstützen nicht nur die Verdauung, sondern sind für unsere Gesundheit generell unverzichtbar. So wie sie sich speziell an ihren Wirt angepasst haben, hat sich auch unser Organismus an die Mikroben angepasst. Insbesondere hängt die normale Entwicklung des Immunsystems von der Mitwirkung der Darmkeime ab. Das schließen Kasper und seine Kollegen aus ihren Experimenten mit Mäusen, die in keimfreier Umgebung gehalten wurden. In den bakterienfreien Darm neugeborener Mäuse übertrugen die Forscher ein natürliches Gemisch von Darmmikroben, das entweder von gesunden Mäusen oder von gesunden Menschen stammte. In beiden Fällen kam es zum Wachstum von Bakterien in ähnlich hoher Zahl und mit einem ähnlich breiten Artenspektrum. Beide Bakterienpopulationen waren aber aus sehr unterschiedlichen Keimspezies zusammengesetzt, wie DNA-Analysen zeigten. Die Untersuchung von Darmlymphknoten ergab, dass sich bei den Mäusen mit den „menschlichen" Darmkeimen genauso wenige Immunzellen entwickelt hatten wie bei Mäusen, deren Darm völlig keimfrei blieb. „Es schien so, als ob diese Mäuse die Bakterien gar nicht erkennen würden", sagt Hachung Chung, ein Mitglied des Forscherteams"

"Es ist möglich, dass eine frühzeitige Exposition gegenüber Antibiotika den Stoffwechsel von Kindern umprogrammiert, sodass Übergewicht im späteren Leben entstehen kann", sagt Co-Autor Martin Blaser von der New York University School of Medicine. Er betont, dass noch weitere Forschung nötig sei, um diese Theorie zu bestätigen. Klar sei aber bereits: Alles was die Darmflora beeinflussen kann, sollte vorsichtig behandelt werden. Ilseung Cho (New York University School of Medicine) et al.: Nature, doi:10.1038/nature11400"

"The project was kick-started by a huge public response to the team's research into the genetics of gut bacteria. In a previous study the researchers found that certain gut-specific genetic markers were related to obesity and other diseases. "I got between 50 and 100 e-mails from regular people having problems with the stomach or diarrhoea and wondering if we can help them," Peer Bork, a biochemist and co-creator of MyMicrobes, told Nature. This new website will build on that work, whilst also providing support for concerned members of the public."

""We probably have underestimated the role our microbial flora play in modulating disease risk," says Daniel Rader, a heart disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Rader, who was not involved in the study, says that gut bacteria may not be as big a factor in causing heart disease as diabetes or smoking, but could be important in tipping some people toward sickness. Researchers led by Stanley Hazen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, didn't start out to study gut bacteria. In fact, says Hazen, he had "no clue - zero," that intestinal microbes were involved in heart disease. "I'd never even considered it or thought of the concept." Hazen and his colleagues compared blood plasma from healthy people to plasma from people who had had heart attacks, strokes or died to see if substances in the blood could predict who is in danger from heart disease. The researchers found 18 small molecules associated with fat buildup in the arteries. One of the best predictors turned out to be a byproduct made when gut bacteria break down a fat called choline (also known as lecithin). The more of this byproduct, called trimethylamine N-oxide or TMAO, a person or mouse has in the blood, the higher the risk of getting heart disease, the researchers found. Gut bacteria are actually middlemen in TMAO production. The microbes convert lecithin to a gas that smells like rotten fish. Then an enzyme in the liver changes the foul-smelling gas to TMAO."

"But, "one has to be cautious. This is exciting science in rodents, but you can't just extrapolate to humans," says Emeran Mayer, a gastroenterologist and neuroscientist at UCLA's Center for Neurobiology of Stress who was not involved in the new study. Drug and food companies that make probiotics - beneficial bacteria taken in a pill or eaten in food such as yogurt - hope the products can help relieve depression, improve weight loss and cure other conditions, but there is little evidence in people that probiotics can accomplish those goals, Mayer says. "It's almost like science fiction; you can imagine the most amazing things because so little is known about it," he says. But, "So far there's really no evidence that probiotics affect emotions in humans." "

"The molecule PKR (the double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase) was originally described as a sensor of viral infections, but its function in the brain was totally unknown," said Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli, assistant professor of neuroscience at BCM and senior author of the paper. Since the activity of PKR is altered in a variety of cognitive disorders, Costa-Mattioli and colleagues decided to take a closer look at its role in the mammalian brain. Super memory The authors discovered that mice lacking PKR in the brain have a kind of "super" memory. "

"Emily Zu-Yin Chen vom Veterans Hospital in Taipeh kürzlich auf einem Kongress der American Heart Association in Orlando berichtete. Mehr als 102.000 Krankenakten von Erwachsenen hat die Kardiologin untersucht, die bis zum Jahr 2000 keinen Schlaganfall oder Herzinfarkt gehabt hatten. Knapp die Hälfte der Teilnehmer ließ sich in den folgenden sieben Jahren mindestens einmal beim Zahnarzt den Zahnstein entfernen, die andere Hälfte nicht."

"Carolacton - A macrolide ketocarbonic acid that reduces biofilm formation by the caries- and endocarditis-associated bacterium Streptococcus mutans.2010,7:1284-1289 European Journal of Organic Chemistry"

"Our knowledge of species and functional composition of the human gut microbiome is rapidly increasing, but it is still based on very few cohorts and little is known about variation across the world. By combining 22 newly sequenced faecal metagenomes of individuals from four countries with previously published data sets, here we identify three robust clusters (referred to as enterotypes hereafter) that are not nation or continent specific. We also confirmed the enterotypes in two published, larger cohorts, indicating that intestinal microbiota variation is generally stratified, not continuous. This indicates further the existence of a limited number of well-balanced host-microbial symbiotic states that might respond differently to diet and drug intake."

"We found that adult Nod2-deficient mice display a substantially altered microbial community structure and a significantly elevated bacterial load in their faeces and terminal ileum compared to their wild-type counterparts. Interestingly, we demonstrate that these findings are also present in weaning mice, indicating a profound influence of Nod2 on the early development and composition of the intestinal microbiota. We demonstrate that NOD2 genotypes also influence the microbial composition in humans. Conclusions Our results point to an essential role of Nod2 for the temporal development and composition of the host microbiota, both in mice and in humans, which may contribute to the complex role of NOD2 for the aetiopathogenesis of Crohn's disease. "

"Eine Billion Bakterien pro Quadratmeter - der menschliche Darm ist das am dichtesten besiedelte Ökosystem. Zu seinen Bewohnern gehört Enterococcus faecalis (E.faecalis), ein Milchsäurebakterium, das auch in fermentierten Käse und Wurstwaren vorkommt und dem in probiotischen Lebensmitteln eine gesundheitsfördernde Wirkung zugeschrieben wird. Die nützlichen Bakterien können aber auch krankmachen. Wie sie an der Entstehung von chronischen Darmentzündungen beteiligt sind, haben Wissenschaftler der Technischen Universität München (TUM) herausgefunden."

"Die Ameisen legen regelrechte Pilzfarmen an, die sie ständig ausbauen und pflegen... Die Symbiose zwischen den Ameisen und dem Pilz ist dabei so eng, dass beide nicht mehr ohne einander existieren könnten. Denn der Pilz selbst kann von einem Schlauchpilz befallen werden, der ihn zerstört. Forschungen lassen vermuten, dass die Ameisen an ihrem Körper Bakterien tragen, die nicht nur das Wachstum des Schlauchpilzes hemmen, sondern gleichzeitig auch ihren Futterpilz düngen."