How Probiotic Yogurt Works

Researchers show that the bacterial species in probiotic, fermented dairy products may alter gene expression and metabolism in native gut microbiota.

Written byBob Grant

| 3 min read

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, FEUERRABE

The bacteria found in some fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, may alter gene expression in human gut microbes, and resultant tweaks to metabolic processes could be behind gastrointestinal benefits often observed in people consuming such probiotic products, according to a study published today (26 October) in Science Translational Medicine. The work was funded by several grants from the National Institutes of Health and from Danone Research, the scientific research arm of Groupe Danone, a Paris-based multinational food products corporation that specializes in dairy products.

Since the 1990s, clinical trials have shown that probiotic bacteria can aid digestion in humans, but the molecular mechanisms involved in conferring those health benefits have proved difficult to pin down. "Nobody really understands how probiotics affect human health," said ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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