To better understand how microbes affect our health, scientists have for the first time created a synthetic human microbiome, combining 119 species of bacteria naturally found in the human body. When the researchers gave the concoction to mice that did not have a microbiome of their own, the bacterial strains established themselves and remained stable -- even when the scientists introduced other microbes. The new synthetic microbiome can even withstand aggressive pathogens and cause mice to develop a healthy immune system, as a full microbiome does.
The findings were published on Tuesday in the journal Cell. A better understanding of the microbiome could potentially lead to a powerful way to treat a host of diseases. Already, doctors can use the microbiome to treat life-threatening gut infections of the bacteria Clostridium difficile. They just have to transplant stool from a healthy donor, and the infection usually goes away.
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