Gut Microbiome

The gut microbiome—a complex community of up to 100 trillion microbes—has a changing composition, influenced by our life stage, diet, medications, environment, and other factors.

Gut microbiome experiments involving transfers of gut microbes from depressed people to rodents indicate that the rodents may then display depression-like symptoms.

Visualize the different parts of the digestive tract, a roughly 30-foot tube which runs from our mouths to our rear.

Specific gut microbiome 'fingerprints' are associated with cancer recurrence, with up to 94% accuracy.

Fecal transplants can help treat infections by transplanting healthy gut bacteria from a donor into a patient's gastrointestinal tract using samples of human waste, which are turned into a liquid mixture and often delivered via a colonoscopy procedure.

Trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protists, and archaea live in our guts, producing a wide range of molecules, hormones, and more—underscoring the immune system's pivotal role in the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

There are up to 100 trillion microbes in the gut, and maintaining the relative balance in this ecosystem is important for our health.

Some animals, including certain tropical ants, have little or no microbial populations in their gut, upending the idea that all animals rely on this ecosystem to help maintain their health and proper functioning.

Farts are tiny status reports from our gut microbiome, with American adults typically passing gas more than 30 times daily.

In 2026, University of Cambridge researchers reported that a group of gut bacteria called CAG-170 may be a key marker of good health, occurring far more often in healthy individuals and less commonly in people with chronic diseases.