Anna M. Seekatz works in the field of the gut microbiome as it related to infectious diseases.
In this “mSphere of Influence” article, she reflects on how two studies,“The impact of a …

Correspondence to: John F. Rawls; Email: jfrawls@ med. unc. edu Submitted: 06/19/12;
Accepted: 06/19/12 http://dx. doi. org/10.4161/gmic. 20485 humans and other animal hosts …

Bacteria-what comes to mind with this word? In general, when we hear words such as
bacteria, microbes, or microorganisms, we tend to think of pathogens, dirt, diseases …

Gut symbionts influence the physiology and behavior of their host, but the extent to which
these effects scale to social behaviors is an emerging area of research. The use of the …

Who knew that collectively, a group of teeny tiny life forms in our intestines could have such
an impact on our health? Our gut microbiome, made up of trillions of microorganisms such …

Perhaps now more than ever (1), it is abundantly clear that viruses can rapidly and
dramatically alter host populations, both by direct mortality and by changing the way hosts …

To the average lay person who suddenly finds themselves dealing with gallbladder pain, it
may be hard to connect the dots between a healthy gut microbiome and what's going on with …