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GUT BACTERIA MAKE HUMAN BRAIN HORMONES. "... the gut ... often called the body's "second brain." About 80 percent of the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract—not the brain. Since large quantities of neurotransmitters are manufactured in the gut, that means your GI tract is largely responsible for your general physical and mental wellbeing." http://lnkd.in/dSfGGiV View in LinkedIn

ALLERGY-GUT MICROBES LINK. Increasing evidence links human gut microbe changes with the development of allergies, especially correlated to early antibiotic use. Probiotic treatments for allergy are currently under investigation, but the work is at an early stage. http://lnkd.in/ddsRd2h View in LinkedIn

MODERN LIFESTYLE DISEASES. "... which includes a diet very different from our ancestors’, lots of antibiotic use, and even a rise in cesarean section deliveries, has profoundly changed the makeup of microbes in the gut of many people in developed countries. For example, the average child in the United States has taken three courses of antibiotics by the time he or she is 2 years old." http://lnkd.in/d2VTZF3 View in LinkedIn

GUT MICROBIOME PROTECTS AGAINST ALLERGIES (2014). Clostridia from the gut has been thought to protect against allergies in mice, and several companies are working on a probiotic to treat allergies (2014). These are the same bacteria wiped out by childhood antibiotic use. http://lnkd.in/dyT2dY2 View in LinkedIn

ALLERGIES LINKED TO WATER. "Widely used pesticides and chlorinated water may be contributing to an increasing incidence of food allergies in the United States, according to a study published in the December issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology." http://lnkd.in/dug6dYy View in LinkedIn

THE SECOND IMMUNE SYSTEM, YOUR GUT. "In a recent breakthrough study, U.S. scientists discovered that gut microorganisms not only influence immune cell function, but actually support the production of immune cells that form the first line of defense against infection. Your gut is your immune system—two-thirds of your immune system, to be exact." http://lnkd.in/dSfGGiV View in LinkedIn

GUT MICROBIOME EXPERIMENT where a brave soul (Jeff Leach) took a year to change diets and study the changes in their gut microbiome. The results were startling: dramatic changes (in only 2-3 weeks) of the component bacterial populations according to diet. One day we will have our gut microbiome on our cell phone with our genome. http://lnkd.in/dzz5XyZ View in LinkedIn

WATER PURIFICATION by use of phages could progress simply by targeting known pathogens, and leaving the non-pathogenic strains in drinking water. This would be a logical step towards water purification that considered the beneficial microbiome instead of our unsuccessful scorched earth policy which is selecting for chorine resistant strains. View in LinkedIn

TOO EARLY TO DEFINE good bacteria for possible probiotic water. "More research is needed to clarify the role of probiotics for preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea, Clostridium difficile infection, travelers’ diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and vulvovaginal candidiasis." However, identifying the pathogens to exclude in drinking water is easy. http://www.ajhp.org/content/67/6/449.short View in LinkedIn

DEFINING GUT BACTERIA. "Between 300 and 1000 different species live in the gut, with most estimates at about 500 ... 99% of the bacteria come from about 30 or 40 species. Fungi, protozoa, and archaea also make up a part of the gut flora, but little is known about their activities. Not all the species ... have been identified because most cannot be cultured." http://lnkd.in/d5Kw3zC View in LinkedIn