Researchers create the most complex artificial microbiome yet

About the episode

Researchers at Stanford University have succeeded in recreating a functional microbiome in the laboratory, made up of more than 100 different types of bacteria.

The microbiome of our digestive system, made up of hundreds of different bacteria, affects our health in many ways. But the search for this complex mechanism is difficult. It was therefore not easy to achieve this in the laboratory. For example, not only did all bacteria have to live in harmony with each other, but they also all had to be able to perform a specific task in order to function as a whole.

Another factor is that there is no single standard model for a microbiome. The composition of the colony is different for each animal, for each human being. So they decided to use the most common bacteria. When the colony was found to be able to survive well in the lab, they checked whether the colony also survived in a mouse’s bacteria-free digestive system.

There too, the colony behaved well. The few bacteria that did not feel at home in the group were left out in a later mix. The group was then combined with an existing microbiome from human feces. Also in this situation, the colony held on and they were able to optimize the mix again.

The researchers now hope that with this art colony, they can better understand the effect of each type of bacteria on our health and how we can one day treat diseases by influencing the composition of the colony.

Read more: Stanford researchers build the most complex and comprehensive synthetic microbiome.