Multimedia Gallery

Microbe-management.

I'm Bob Karson with the Discovery Files, from the National Science Foundation.

Getting to know your microbiota. A “society” of thousands of species of microbes in your body that help with digestion, metabolism…even fighting disease. Researchers at Drexel University have found a new way to I.D. communities in that society, and how they operate.

Scientists have been trying to understand the health effects of imbalances in our microbiome. But to properly correct these, you need to know which species are where; how they act and interact with other species in the community…in healthy people and those suffering from disease.

Researchers can figure out which organisms are likely present by taking a sample from part of the body and studying the genetic material. The Drexel team goes farther. They’ve developed an algorithm that sifts through huge amounts of genetic code in a sample. It spots patterns that indicate which microbe species in the society are living in communities and may be working together to accomplish larger functions.

The presence of certain communities could help identify microbiota-related diseases like Crohn’s or specific cancers. Compared to current diagnostics, the new method is just as accurate, but tons faster. Minutes versus days.

Showing promise for speeding progress toward treatments and cures.

Would this be considered insider information?

Discover more at nsf.gov.

"The discovery files" covers projects funded by the government's National Science Foundation. Federally sponsored research -- brought to you, by you! Learn more at nsf.gov or on our podcast.

Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.