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#metagenomics

2 dispatches

• Reading Note

New Age Bioprospecting for Antimicrobials

One of the major contributors to improved healthcare outcomes and reduced mortality in the post-World War II era was the widespread use of antibiotics. Able to treat infection, these miracle drugs literally transformed bacteria from humanity’s primary killer to a manageable problem. But, in recent decades, the decline in the discovery of novel antibacterials (and other...

• Essay

Fat Flora

Source: Healthy Soul November’s paper was published in Naturein 2006, and covers a topic I’ve become increasingly interested in: the impact of the bacteria that have colonized our bodies on our health (something I’ve blogged about here and here). The idea that our bodies are, in some ways, more bacteria than human (there are 10x more gut bacteria – or flora — than human cells...