Biomes

Some amazing evidence now shows that the vaginal microbiome can influence the risk of a woman giving birth prematurely and influence her risk of acquiring HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. This week, I speak with Prof. Doug Kwon all about this and about the evidence for probiotic or other microbiome therapies to improve women’s health.

Even though the microbiome field is very exciting, it is also unfortunately full of plenty of myths and hyperbole. It is important that we discuss these myths. In Episode 6, I speak to the two best Microbiome Myth Busters in the world, who take us through the inaccuracies that are prevalent in discourse about human microbiomes and why these can be detrimental for science and medicine.

Gene editing tools such as CRISPR are allowing scientists and medics to get rid of devastating genetic conditions, however they can also be used on microbes, meaning they could be used to alter the human microbiome. Dr. Carlotta Ronda is investigating how to gene edit microbiomes to benefit human and environmental health 

Ultra-processed foods contain lots of additives to help with their shelf life. Emulsifiers are one type of additive included within many ultra-processed foods such as mayonnaise, chocolate, ice-cream etc. However, new research suggests that these emulsifiers may have a detrimental effect on the gut lining and the gut microbiome. 

Humans can survive on human milk for at least the first 6 months of life yet surprisingly little has been researcher about this human superfood. Human milk contains prebiotic sugars, antibodies and live microbes, all of which can influence the gut microbiome of babies. I speak with Dr. Meghan Azad from the University of Manitoba about her research on human milk and the infant gut microbiome.

Increasingly, dietary sugar is being replaced by non-caloric sweeteners in our diets. But what effects do these sweeteners have on our health? Only last year, the World Health Organisation categorized the sweetener aspartame as "possibly carcinogenic to humans", yet lots of evidence suggest that sweeteners are beneficial for weight loss and blood sugar control if they replace high sugar intakes. In this episode, I speak with Dr. Jotham Suez who has conducted some ground-breaking research on the effect of non-caloric sweeteners on the gut microbiome and the potential detrimental effects this may have on metabolic health. The Biomes Podcast is sponsored by Microbiome Insights, who provide end-to-end microbiome research services. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com

Welcome back to Season 3 of Biomes! This season will include some even more fascinating discussions on the latest developments in human microbiome research. Dr. Ruairi Robertson will speak to some of the world’s leading microbiome researchers about everything from artificial sweeteners and the gut microbiome, the vaginal microbiome and gene editing microbiomes. This introductory episode will give a taster of all of the topics that will be discussed in Season 3.   Biomes Season 3 is sponsored by Microbiome Insights (www.microbiomeinsights.com) who provide end-to-end services for everyone looking to include microbiome analyses in their studies.

Infectious diseases have largely been replaced by chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer in the Western world. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that humans are still at significant risk from microbial-diseases. In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Prof. Brett Finlay from University of British Columbia, one of the world’s leading experts on infectious diseases. Prof. Finlay discusses his career studying infectious microbes and how this led him to shift focus to all of the other microbes in our body. He discusses the influence of the gut microbiome on infection susceptibility, fulfilling Koch’s postulates for the gut microbiome and the influence of early life gut microbes on ‘modern plagues’ such as asthma and allergies.   Prof. Finlay is one of the scientific co-founders of Microbiome Insights along with Dr. Bill Mohn. Between them, they have published more than 600 peer reviewed papers and they provide key scientific guidance to the Microbiome Insights team. Find out more at  www.microbiomeinsights.com.

When you hear the phrase ‘gut microbiome’, you most often think about bacteria. However, a huge proportion of your intestinal microbes are viruses, archaea and fungi. These other microbes however, have been studied in much less detail and we know less about what they are doing to your body. In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Dr. Marie Claire Arrietta from University of Calgary, a leading researcher on fungal microbiomes. She discusses how gut fungi interact with the immune system, myths about Candida and how gut fungi may affect children’s lung health.   Microbiome Insights provide services to assess the fungal microbiome using ITS2 sequencing. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers and cancer deaths worldwide and its rates are increasing in many countries around the world, especially in younger adults. Emerging evidence points to a role of certain gut microbes in the progression of colorectal cancer by acting as toxins to gut cells. On the other hand, other microbes have been identified as potentially protective against colorectal cancer. In this episode of Biomes, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Prof. Wendy Garrett of Harvard University. Prof. Garrett is a leading doctor and researcher in the field of the colorectal cancer and the gut microbiome. Her work has shown exciting links between microbes originating in the mouth and how they may contribute to cancer when they travel down to the gut. Prof. Garrett discusses this research and future potential of targeting the gut microbiome as an adjunctive therapy for colorectal cancer.   Microbiome Insights has partnered with some of World's leading cancer research institutes, helping researchers incorporate microbiome sequencing and analysis to their clinical studies. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com.

Kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi… fermented foods such as these have suddenly appeared on the shelves and menus around the world. Much of this is due to our increasing knowledge about our gut microbiomes. But what is the scientific evidence behind fermented foods? Do they actually change our gut microbiomes? Do their microbes survive transit through the gastrointestinal tract? Should we all be eating more fermented foods? In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks to Prof. Paul Cotter from Teagasc Food Research Centre and University College Cork in Ireland to answer all of these questions and discuss his world-leading research in fermented foods.   Whether you are performing basic research in nutrition or developing a new pre or probiotic product, Microbiome Insights has the experience and expertise to help you achieve your research goals. Find out more at www.microbiomeinsights.com.

Did you know that humans emit about 37 million bacteria every hour? Your entire surroundings, from the air you breathe to the walls of your house, are populated by a vast mixture of microbes. But to what extent to these microbes colonize you and affect your health? In this episode, Dr. Ruairi Robertson speaks with Prof. Jack Gilbert about the microbes in our environment and how they interact with humans. Prof. Gilbert is the Charles Darwin of the microbiome field, studying microbes all over the world from Antarctic lakes to volcanoes to the international space station. His research has uncovered the interactions between the macro and micro worlds that we live in and how we must approach our surrounding microbial environments in the future from homes to hospitals and space stations.   Biomes Season 2 is being produced in conjunction with Microbiome Insights (www.microbiomeinsights.com) who provide end-to-end services for everyone looking to include microbiome analyses in their studies.

Welcome back to Season 2 of Biomes! This season will include some even more fascinating discussions on the latest developments in human microbiome research. Dr. Ruairi Robertson will speak to some of the world’s leading microbiome researchers about everything from fermented foods to cancer microbiomes and microbiomes in space. This introductory episode will give a taster of all of the topics that will be discussed in Season 2.   Biomes Season 2 is being produced in conjunction with Microbiome Insights (www.microbiomeinsights.com) who provide end-to-end services for everyone looking to include microbiome analyses in their studies.

In this final episode of the series, I speak to Prof. Susan Lynch from University of California San Francisco. We discuss the hygiene hypothesis, which suggests that early life exposure to infections may protect against allergy and asthma, and how this may be relevant to the early life gut microbiome.

Through our diets, hygiene practices, overuse of antibiotics and other aspects of our Westernised diets, we are losing much of the vast diversity of our gut microbiomes. In this episode for World Microbiome Day, I speak to Prof. Maria Gloria Dominguez Bello who has conducted fascinating work on the gut microbiomes of uncontacted Amerindian Tribes in the Amazon Jungle, who have amazingly diverse microbiomes. We also discuss her pioneering work on vaginal seeding in C-section births and her fascinating initiative to store microbial diversity through the global Microbiota Vault.

In this episode I speak to Dr. Lindsay Hall to studies the gut microbiomes of babies. She examines how preterm babies are more prone to infections and how we may be able to optimise their gut microbes in order to prevent and fight infections. We discuss the details of babies' immune systems, gut microbes and the new controversial method of 'vaginal seeding' during C-section births.

Fecal transplants are one of the hottest, if not stomach-curling, topics in the field of the microbiome at the moment. They are extremely successful treatments for recurrent C. Diff infection. In this episode I speak with Dr. Majdi Osman who is the Clinical Programme Director of OpenBiome, a non-profit stool bank whom screen, store and distribute stool samples to hospitals all around the US for fecal transplants. We discuss the background of fecal transplants, the day-to-day difficulties of running a stool-bank and the future of this nauseating treatment for other diseases.

In this episode of Biomes, I speak with Professor Gregor Reid of the the University of Western Ontario and the Lawson Health Research Institute, one of the foremost researchers on probiotics. We discuss his research into UTIs, preterm birth, probiotic controversies and the future of beneficial microbes to fight disease.    

Have you ever had a gut feeling? Or butterflies in your stomach? Fascinating evidence now shows us that our intestines and brains and intricately linked through a number of physical and biochemical pathways and that our gut microbes are critical to these interactions.   In this episode of Biomes, I speak with Professor Ted Dinan from University College Cork, one of the pioneers in the field of the gut-brain axis. We talk about the link between stress and infection, the latest knowledge around the vagus nerve and what diet he thinks may be key to gut-brain health.   Enjoy!  

Welcome to the Biomes Podcast!  As a human being, you are not a single organism but a thriving ecosystem home to trillions of invisible, living microbes. These microbial jungles within you and upon you are critical for your health and survival and may influence everything from your risk of cancer to your sexual attractiveness. In this introductory episode, I introduce myself, the microbiome and this podcast.  Enjoy!