Gut reactions

摘要

"The average adult human is, in essence, a 10-meter-long tube." So began a 2005 special issue of the journal Science dedicated to the gut and its microbial inhabitants. At that time, it was becoming clear how influential those microbes are on our health and well-being. At first, the focus was on obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. But the list has since grown to include diabetes, cancer, immune disorders and even mental illness. It is getting hard to find health problems that aren't in some way linked to gut microbes (see page 45). That is both good and bad news. Gut microbiomes are flexible and potentially open to manipulation. Understanding the interactions between them and our health would open up many therapeutic avenues. But the complexity of the relationship makes disentangling it difficult. A decade ago, there was optimistic talk of using gut bugs to cure obesity. We're still waiting. There are dangers too.