Escherichia coli, a common gut bacteriaCENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION'S PUBLIC HEALTH IMAGE LIBRARY
A new non-profit program called MyMicrobes aims to integrate aspects of a social network and a DNA database to learn more about the bacteria living in the human gut. Calling for interested people to have their gut bacteria sequenced (for about $2,100, paid for by participants) and share information about their diets and gastrointestinal problems, the program hopes to gather the data needed to finally understand how our commensals affect the physiology of the GI tract, in addition to giving participants a forum to connect with individuals with similar problems.
"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 at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in ...
