Microbes in The News: Transplanted gut microbes may protect babies from infection
Transplanted gut microbes may protect babies from infection
Jana Howden: Cosmosmagazine, 21. April 2017
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/transplanted-gut-microbes-may-protect-babies-from-infection
A new study in mice showed that particular gut bacteria can provide newborns with a vital protection against infection. A bacterium known as Clostridia helped the mouse pups to digest food and to be protected from infection. The researchers then exposed these mice to C. rodentium and found that only the mice transplanted with added Clostridia were able to resist infection. The team is now conducting further research to uncover the role of Clostridia in defending newborns against infection, human clinical trials are a possibility if the bacterium’s protective potential bears fruit in further animal studies.
I think this relates to a lot of things that we have discussed in this class and many especially to the lectures on immunology and on pathogens. I found this article to be very well written and with a lot of relevant and interesting information. I thought the article did a good job at relaying the information.
Why and how does Clostridia protect newborns from infections?