Sunday, October 23, 2016

Global Online Office Hours

Global online office hours will be held monthly
through Google Chat.
Interest in the microbiome has continued to skyrocket. It seems like there is a new microbiome commercialization strategy everyday, and more and more scientists are looking to incorporate the microbiome into their research programs. It is certainly an exciting time for the microbiome. Unfortunately the increased demand has been met with a somewhat insufficient supply of information and resources. Of course there are some excellent resources out there, but a lot of people don't have access to a "microbiome researcher" to answer their questions. Sometimes this means newcomers to the field make some crucial mistakes because they are forced to "go it alone". In an effort to generate even more unique resources for all of the microbiome folks out there, I decided to hold Global Online Office Hours.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

A New Look At Irritable Bowel Disease and Viruses: The Core Human "Phageome"

An illustration of the core protein clusters (PCs; groups
of similar genes) found in the photic and aphotic zones
of the ocean. This new study applies a similar approach
using phage genomes instead of genes. Source
Ongoing research has continued to implicate the microbiome in a variety of human diseases. We often hear about this in the context of bacterial communities. Certain bacterial communities appear to be associated with health, and disrupting these communities seems to be associated with disease. To better understand these bacterial communities, we sometimes group the shared members together as the "core bacterial community" that is associated with health or disease. In some ways these core bacteria are considered important to the system because they are found in every instance of health or disease. But what about the core phages (bacterial viruses) of these communities? A few weeks ago Manrique et al published a study that began addressing this question.