FT article on microbiome16 Feb 2018 11:04
From today�s FT....the microbiome is a great theme and I�m pretty sure that 4D remains a great way to play it. I also own UK-listed Puretech because it has a 70-odd % interest in private company, Vedanta Bioscience. 4D and Vedanta are, arguably, the two global leaders in the field, both with very extensive patent estates..
�Researchers are discovering remarkable new links between gut bacteria and the brain. Problems from poor sleep to memory loss could be helped by manipulating the microbiome, the trillions of bacteria living inside healthy human bodies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science heard on Thursday.
Scientists have only recently come to appreciate the importance of the microbiome for health � perhaps the biggest advance in understanding human biology so far this century. Since the bacteria live mainly in the gut, scientists focused first on their role in digestion and metabolism and in problems such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease, but research outlined at the AAAS annual meeting in Austin is now showing how the microbiome can alter mood and behaviour, too.
�We are finding strong evidence of associations between the brain and microbiome,� said Janet Jansson, director of biological science at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state. �Now we are trying to discover the biochemical and genetic factors responsible. We have some exciting preliminary findings but they are not yet published.�
Working with mice, her lab discovered genetic variations in the animals that promote the growth of particular gut bacteria. Several of the genes also turned out to be involved in memory. When researchers transplanted Lactobacillus microbes into mice bred to be germ-free, they found that they developed �a much better memory� than otherwise identical mice without the microbes, Dr Jansson said. The team is now trying to identify chemicals produced by the bacteria that might reach the brain and improve memory.....�
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