Archaea

Gut bacteria and the immune system: How aging changes the microbiome and can lead to ‘inflammaging’

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Research, Inflammation, Inflammaging, Health, Red meat, Vitamin, Bacillota, Nutrient, Archaea, Cell, Environment, Disease, Infection, Homeostasis, Probiotic, Risk, Dysbiosis, Gastrointestinal tract, Extrapyramidal system, Tissue, Actinomycetota, Fungus, Bacteria, Virus, University, Life, Pseudomonadota, Type 2 diabetes, Diet, Nutritional science, Mucus, Immune system, Cellular senescence, Family, Stomach, Antigen, Type 2, Vaccine

Research has shown that changes to the composition and diversity of the microorganisms in the gut may explain these differences in immune system aging.

Key Points: 
  • Research has shown that changes to the composition and diversity of the microorganisms in the gut may explain these differences in immune system aging.
  • However, as the composition of our gut microbiome changes with age, a low level of inflammation can become constant throughout the body.
  • Let’s take a closer look at the gut microbiome and how it changes with age.

Gut microbiome imbalances in older adults

  • In fact, compared to other parts of the body, the gut microbiome has the largest number of bacteria.
  • In a healthy gut microbiome, there are four dominant families (or phyla) of microorganisms, including Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria.
  • Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes make up around 80 to 90 per cent of the gut microbiota in the digestive tract.
  • Over time, the shortage of beneficial bacteria such as Firmicutes in older adults starts to compromise the integrity of their intestinal barrier, causing it to become leaky.

How inflammaging works

  • Inflammaging creates an environment that is prone to inflammation, which is caused and maintained by several factors.
  • These can include microorganism imbalances in the intestines (microbial dysbiosis), psychological stress, physical inactivity, poor nutrition and chronic infections.

Maintaining a healthy balance of gut microbiota

  • More specifically, probiotics help improve the function of the intestinal barrier and regulate immune responses by modifying the composition of the gut microbiome.
  • It is clear that the immune system has an intricate relationship with the gut microbiome.
  • A healthy and well-balanced gut microbiome will strengthen the intestinal barrier, which helps to reduce inflammation throughout the body and support the immune system.
  • To achieve this, it is important to maintain a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle as we grow older.


Narveen Jandu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Tiny Health, Pioneer of the First At-Home Baby Gut Microbiome Test, Aims to Address the Pediatric Chronic Conditions Crisis

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Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Food, Diabetes, Fungus, Tiny, General partnership, Physician, Obesity, Pediatrics, Asthma, Overalls, Parent, Parasitism, Allergy, Life, Risk, IRB, Constipation, Health, Bacteria, Virus, Mother, Infant, Dermatitis, ADHD, Child, Science, Archaea, Research, Immune system, Partnership, Birth control

The partnership enables Tiny Health to continue trailblazing the gut health testing category and avert the pediatric chronic conditions crisis.

Key Points: 
  • The partnership enables Tiny Health to continue trailblazing the gut health testing category and avert the pediatric chronic conditions crisis.
  • Families are facing a pediatric chronic conditions crisis, with increasing rates of eczema, asthma, diabetes, obesity, food allergies, ADHD, autoimmune diseases, and more.
  • I founded Tiny Health to bridge the gap in the market, help address the pediatric chronic conditions crisis, and empower families to take a proactive approach to their lifelong health.
  • Since its inception, Tiny Health has pioneered the family gut testing category including:
    Established the first, at-home gut microbiome test for babies.

Phase Genomics Announces Funding to Accelerate Discovery of New Lysin-Based Precision Antimicrobials

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Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Science, Other Science, Biotechnology, Research, General Health, Health, Infectious Diseases, Genetics, Therapy, Campylobacter, Doctor of Philosophy, NIH, Collateral damage, News, Lysin, Bacteria, Ruminant, Environmental health, Virus, Genomics, Phase Genomics, Bill, Archaea, Melinda French Gates, AMR

Phase Genomics, Inc. , a leading innovator at the forefront of genomics technology development, today announced $1.5MM in new funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fuel a new antimicrobial discovery platform.

Key Points: 
  • Phase Genomics, Inc. , a leading innovator at the forefront of genomics technology development, today announced $1.5MM in new funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fuel a new antimicrobial discovery platform.
  • The foundation of this effort rests on Phase Genomics’ proprietary global phage atlas, developed with support from the Gates Foundation and the NIH.
  • Under this project, Phase Genomics will deploy its platform to develop antimicrobial agents that bypass resistance against Campylobacter infections and methanogenic archaea in ruminants that drive global methane emissions.
  • Follow Phase Genomics on X and LinkedIn for the latest news and information.

Gut microbiome: meet Bilophila wadsworthia – a microbe that’s both friend and foe

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Friday, February 16, 2024
Hydrogen, Oxygen, Fungus, Smell, Partial pressure, Diet, Inflammation, News, Growth, Bile, Hydrogen sulfide, Meat, Cell, Defecation, Health, Irritable bowel syndrome, Bacteria, Virus, Appendicitis, Inflammatory bowel disease, Disease, Archaea, Fermentation, Colorectal cancer, Research, Sulfur

Hydrogen sulfide is the gas responsible for the rotten-egg odour that you come across near stagnant water and in drains.

Key Points: 
  • Hydrogen sulfide is the gas responsible for the rotten-egg odour that you come across near stagnant water and in drains.
  • Bilophila wadsworthia is one such species of these bacteria.
  • The bacteria that break down sulfur-containing organic matter and produce hydrogen sulfide are fittingly called sulfate-reducing bacteria.
  • Sulfate-reducing bacteria are an important part of the normal human gut microbiome, and small amounts of hydrogen sulfide are required in the human gut environment.
  • Bilophila wadsworthia was discovered in the 1980s, when it was found in people who had severe appendicitis.
  • The researchers found that it grew really well in bile, which is why the genus name is Bilophila (meaning bile loving).
  • Since then, research has associated Bilophila wadsworthia with negative effects in the gut.
  • It’s not clear how or why expansion of Bilophila wadsworthia can occur in the gut.


Jade Davies receives funding from UKRI via the BBSRC as part of the Norwich Research Park Doctoral Training Partnership (grant no. BB/M011216/1).

Gut microbiome: meet Asaccharobacter celatus – the brain health bug

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Friday, February 9, 2024
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Research over recent years also suggests our gut bacteria may have a role in helping us maintain our brain health as we age.

Key Points: 
  • Research over recent years also suggests our gut bacteria may have a role in helping us maintain our brain health as we age.
  • My own preliminary research suggests one gut bug in particular called Asaccharobacter celatus (A celatus) could be useful.

Cognitive impairment and dementia

  • Worryingly, this often progresses to more severe impairment of brain function known as dementia.
  • Dementia affects more than 55 million people around the world, and projections suggest this number will increase to 82 million by 2030.

How gut bacteria could help

  • The bacteria in our gut perform functions that benefit our overall health.
  • A celatus, along with certain other bacteria, is capable of producing a compound known as equol.
  • These bacteria make equol from a compound called daidzein, which is found in soy products including soy milk, tofu and tempeh.
  • In many cases, we can influence the make-up of our gut bacteria through our diet, and this appears to be true for A celatus.
  • Read more:
    Gut bacteria rewind ageing brain in mice

    However, other research has shown consumption of soy foods in the diet has no effect on cognitive function.

  • All this suggests that, alongside the bacteria, we already have in our gut microbiome, what we eat could be equally important.

My research

  • This relates to complex cognitive tasks we perform daily, including doing maths in our head, or reorganising the day’s tasks in our mind when something unexpectedly changes.
  • This research appears promising, but we need more evidence to confirm the potential benefits of both A celatus bacteria and soy foods in helping older people maintain their brain health as they age.
  • Each week we will look at a different microbe and bring you the most up-to-date research on them.
  • Nathan Nuzum currently works at University College Cork as part of APC Microbiome and receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the INSPIRE COFUND Marie Skłodowska Curie grant agreement No.
  • The unpublished/original work referred to in this article was conducted at Deakin University as part of Dr. Nathan Nuzum's PhD.
  • Dr. Nuzum's PhD supervisors for this work includes his primary supervisor Dr. Helen Macpherson, and his co-supervisors (in alphabetical order) Drs.

bp's Archaea Energy achieves major milestone, brings online first of its kind renewable natural gas plant

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
BP, Recycling, EV, Atmosphere, Hydrogen, AMD, Bioenergy, Electricity, RNG, Carbon, Plant, EPA, Acquisition, Natural gas, Transport, Environment, NYSE, Renewable energy, Archaea, Rumpke Sanitary Landfill

The plant converts landfill gas into renewable natural gas, reducing emissions, improving air quality and providing fuel for potential use in homes, businesses and transportation.

Key Points: 
  • The plant converts landfill gas into renewable natural gas, reducing emissions, improving air quality and providing fuel for potential use in homes, businesses and transportation.
  • HOUSTON, Oct. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, bp's Archaea Energy (NYSE: BP) announced the official startup of its original Archaea Modular Design (AMD) renewable natural gas (RNG) plant in Medora, Indiana.
  • Landfill gas, a natural byproduct of the decomposition of waste in landfills, is a form of greenhouse gas.
  • Starlee Sykes, CEO Archaea Energy: "What we are doing at the Medora plant is phenomenal, and it's just the beginning of what's to come at Archaea.

USDA Promotes Innovation and Quality of U.S. Pet Foods at Pet Fair Asia 2023

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Thursday, September 21, 2023
Shanghai New International Expo Center, Epcot, Education, Poultry, Research, Multimedia, History, Purpose, 2013 attack on U.S. consulate in Herat, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, USDA, Agriculture, USA pavilion at Expo 2010, Archaea, Probiotic, NARA, Bottled water, Timber Wolf

SHANGHAI, Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Pet Food Brand Promotional Session was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on August 16, 2023, to introduce U.S. pet food industry innovations and premium quality U.S. pet food to interested professional attendees during Pet Fair Asia 2023.

Key Points: 
  • SHANGHAI, Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Pet Food Brand Promotional Session was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on August 16, 2023, to introduce U.S. pet food industry innovations and premium quality U.S. pet food to interested professional attendees during Pet Fair Asia 2023.
  • Lashonda McLeod Harper-Director of the Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai delivered a welcome speech and a brief overview of the U.S. pet food industry.
  • When explaining the U.S. pet food industry, he outlined the strengths of the U.S. pet food industry in long-term investment on research, companion animal science, pet food manufacturing technologies, availability, and quality of various pet food ingredients and stressed that convenient access to high-quality rendered ruminant ingredients in U.S. pet food industry poses remarkable advantages in ingredient supply to pet foods made by China.
  • Nearly 3,000 pet food professionals attended this U.S. Pet Food Brands Promotional Session on-site and via livestream.

Successfully managing forests must include stewarding the hidden life belowground

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Monday, August 7, 2023
Photosynthesis, Mycorrhiza, Food, Face, Forestry, Agriculture, Sugar, Tree, Water quality, Carbon, Forest, Fungus, Biodiversity, Plant, Climate change, Animal, Soil, Archaea, MITES, Bacteria, Ecosystem, Health, Truffle, Fertilizer, Silviculture

This astonishing diversity of belowground life is arranged into complex food webs, with many of the larger animals feeding on smaller animals and microorganisms.

Key Points: 
  • This astonishing diversity of belowground life is arranged into complex food webs, with many of the larger animals feeding on smaller animals and microorganisms.
  • Life belowground
    All life belowground ultimately relies on plants for nourishment.
  • Managing the whole forest
    This new appreciation of the importance of living roots in sustaining life belowground should prompt us to rethink forest management.
  • Forestry could also be regenerative, particularly if we apply practices such as continuous cover and species mixtures, and intentionally conserve life belowground.

Skin, mouth, lungs ... it's not just your gut that has a microbiome

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023
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A lot has been written and said about the gut microbiome – the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea that lives in our intestines. But the gut is not the only place that has a microbiome. The mouth, nose, skin, lungs and genitals have microbiomes of their own. And they all play an important role in our health. Here is a brief introduction to each one. Oral microbiome Arguably, this was the first microbiome discovered.

Key Points: 


A lot has been written and said about the gut microbiome – the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea that lives in our intestines. But the gut is not the only place that has a microbiome. The mouth, nose, skin, lungs and genitals have microbiomes of their own. And they all play an important role in our health. Here is a brief introduction to each one.

Oral microbiome

    • Arguably, this was the first microbiome discovered.
    • As with all microbiomes, the oral microbiome competes with harmful bacteria for resources and space.
    • Good oral hygiene and a healthy diet can ensure that good microbes prevail.

Nasal microbiome

    • Moving north, we find the nasal microbiome, which helps to filter and trap particles from the air we breathe.
    • While the nasal microbiome has over a hundred strains of bacteria, only two to ten species make up 90% of the microbiome.
    • However, imbalances in the nasal microbiome can occur as a result of environmental exposures (such as air pollution), genetics or problems with our immune system.

Skin microbiome

    • The skin microbiome includes bacteria, fungi and viruses.
    • Imbalances in the skin microbiome have been associated with skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis.

Lung microbiome

    • The lung microbiome is not as diverse as the other biomes, mainly consisting of bacteria.
    • Disruptions in the lung microbiome can make us more susceptible to infections and respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia.

Genital microbiome

    • Heading further south, we have the vaginal microbiome in females and the penile microbiome in males.
    • The penile microbiome in males also contributes to genital health, although it has been less extensively studied.

Gut microbiome

    • The gut microbiome is essential for digestion, metabolism and developing our immune system.
    • Imbalances in the gut microbiome have been linked to conditions like inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
    • There are various ways to keep the gut microbiome healthy or rebalance it when it gets out of whack.
    • Disruptions in the gut microbiome can influence our immune system and affect other biomes.

HuidaGene Therapeutics' Novel DNA Gene-Editing System Cas12i Patent Granted by USPTO

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
SAB, Patent, DNA, CRISPR, Classification, PAM, Type 2, Gene editing, DSB, Rationality, Biomedical Research, Protein & Cell, Chromosomal deletion syndrome, Research, DSM-IV codes, Cell, RNA, Chromosomal rearrangement, AAV, Patient, Archaea, Apoptosis, Synergy, Entrepreneurship, Bacteria, AI, Viral, Therapy, Neurology, Protein, Cas12a, DNA repair, Vaccine, Pharmaceutical industry, Medical device, Cas9

Cas12Max® has the highest DNA editing efficiency in mammalian cells compared with Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) and Lachnospiraceae bacterium Cas12a (LbCas12a).

Key Points: 
  • Cas12Max® has the highest DNA editing efficiency in mammalian cells compared with Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) and Lachnospiraceae bacterium Cas12a (LbCas12a).
  • This fundamental patent covers multiple novel Cas12i proteins, and their variants and DNA editing uses thereof.
  • "My team has identified 10 novel Cas12i proteins through AI and deep ML of DNA sequencing and assembly prediction from metagenomic database followed by the identification of xCas12i through the fluorescent reporting system.
  • HuidaGene will continue to improve the CRISPR-based gene-editing technology and bring safe gene-editing therapies a reality for millions of patients worldwide.