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Gut microbiota in 2022

Nifty new tools for microbiome treatment design

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From Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

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The gut microbiome field is shifting from association to modulation. Microbiota-based treatments come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from dietary intervention to live bacterial products. Recent methodological advances are instrumental to developing innovative new treatment strategies in microbiome-linked pathologies.

Key advances

  • Isotope tracing enabled mapping of nutrient routes in the mouse gut microbiota in vivo3.

  • Engineered Escherichia coli strains enable in vivo recording of transcriptional responses throughout the murine gastrointestinal tract5.

  • CRISPR-edited lactococci encoding β-lactamases control microbiota damage of ampicillin treatment, lowering susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile in mouse models6.

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Fig. 1: Tools for microbiome innovation.

References

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Acknowledgements

J.R. thanks the Raes lab, and especially N. Prochazkova, for enticing scientific discussions contributing to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Jeroen Raes

  2. Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium

    Jeroen Raes

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  1. Jeroen Raes
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Correspondence to Jeroen Raes.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Raes, J. Nifty new tools for microbiome treatment design. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 20, 77–78 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00735-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-022-00735-2

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