Alright, so I know everyone is most likely beginning or in the middle of their round one midterm season. Because of all the ~insanity~ going on with school and more, this week’s post is going to be a sweet, short and informative read. Today we are placing ourselves under the microscope and will be discussing the very organisms living both on and in us.
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The human microbiome is an extraordinary thing. The microbes that live on our surface and even within us can even have the key to diagnoses such as cancer, or even evaluate aging. In the world we live in today, we are able to both inquire and test theories regarding the use of reading or even modifying one’s microbiota to further inform and possibly even improve personal health. Given the endless wonders of studying the microbiome of humans and other species, the two focus topics of today are derived from two different studies: diagnostics and aging.
As scientists have peaked their interest in the human microbiome, there has been a direct increase in the scientific abilities that arise from profiling microbiota. The microbiota in our intestinal track (aka our gut) particularly have links to human health and disease. Intestinal microbiota can be used in areas ranging from cancer screening to the success of transplants. This range is so large due to the abundance of genetic diversity found in the microbiota of the gut and the different strains they express for different diseases. Metagenomic sequencing is key to understand the diversity of the strains microbiota can express. Other methods of profiling microbiota include PCR, but can be riddled with limitations such as mismatching within primer binding sites. This results in the amplified area of DNA possibly not truly depicting an individual’s microbiota, in turn opening possibilities to misdiagnose them. Due to PCR limitations, this is why scientists have leaned more on analyzing genomes through metagenomics. Metagenomics is more sensitive, complete and does not require the same primers as PCR. With this methodology of diagnosis, scientists are bringing a more effective and possibly preventative way of detecting underlying diseases in an individual’s body.
Tests and further diagnosis are able to be made from the microbiota living on and within a human due to holobiont associations between them (microbiota) and us (our body). In another paper that I read in preparation for this blog post suggested that such association can be analyzed further from only diagnosis, but rather serve as an indicator of aging signs also. Coined the hologenome theory of aging, scientist Bianca Bana and Filipe Cabreiro suggest, “the holobiont as the combined physiological entity undergoing aging.” Other indicators of age, such as telomere shortening, cause phenotypic signs of aging. Whether it is growing taller or beginning to grow gray hair, our telomeres and microbiota are altered within our bodies. Based on the information we have learned in class, it seems highly likely that our microbiota shift as we age older older given that our microbiota can differ from merely dietary choices. And once again intestinal microbiota specifically hold key characteristics for scientists to determine age progressions. Our gut microbiota is hit the hardest through the different diets, environment changes and possibly diseases we endure throughout our lifetime. Therefore, the microbiota in this area suggest linkage between aging and increased intestinal permeability and inflammation, along with even intestinal barrier dysfunction development. Bana and Cabreiro even found evidence of intestinal microbiota importance in Caenorhabiditis elegans (nematode), Drosophila melangogaster (fly), Nothobranchius furzeri (fish) and Mus musculus (mouse) in addition to humans. Further linking a relationship between aging and altercations in our gut microbiota.
From the handful of studies I have sifted through to find adequate resources to fit my post, all have mentioned the vast possibilities that could extend from putting ourselves, and our microbiota, under the microscope. Scientist hope to even find if scientific modifications to the microorganisms living on and within us could prevent or treat human diseases or predisposed conditions. To me, it looks like this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Chandler's Epidemiology & Microbiology Blog 