Microbiome

A laboratory study of four animal species and their microbiota finds that each species hosts a unique community of microbes that can significantly improve its health and fitness. Read More

Too much dietary zinc increases susceptibility to infection by Clostridium difficile — “C. diff” — the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections. Read More

Fecal transplants are increasingly being used to treat certain human illnesses and more scientists have begun to research the transplants' effects in animals. Read More

Vanderbilt chemist helps craft call for major new research initiative to increase our understanding of the invisible world of microbes that surround us. Read More

Vanderbilt mathematician Glenn Webb and NYU microbiologist Martin Blaser propose that the microbes which live on our bodies may have influenced the age structure of human populations in prehistoric times. Read More

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can share resources to cause chronic infections, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. The findings shed light on a long-standing question in infectious diseases and may inform new treatment strategies. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a new type of immune cell residing in the intestinal epithelium that may function as a first line of defense against ingested pathogens. Read More

A multidisciplinary team of microbiome researchers at Vanderbilt University is shedding light on necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease of prematurity that kills hundreds of babies and costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $5 billion a year. Read More

The popular science magazine Science News has chosen a story featuring research by Vanderbilt's Seth Bordenstein and Robert Brucker as its top science story for the year. Read More

A new study provides the first direct evidence that microbes can contribute to the origin of new species by reducing the viability of hybrids produced between males and females of different species. Read More