From the very first weeks of life, an infant’s gut is home to trillions of microbes that influence metabolism, immunity, and development. But understanding the gut ecosystem isn’t just about which microbes are present—it’s about what they are doing. A 2021 study from the United States (New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study) investigated the relationship between gut microbial composition and the metabolome—the array of small molecules produced or transformed by microbes—at 6 weeks and 12 months of age. Their goal was to see how early microbial communities shape metabolic activity and, potentially, long-term health. How the Study Worked Researchers collected stool samples from infants at two time points: 6 weeks and 12 months. They applied a multi-omics approach, combining: 16S rRNA gene sequencing: to identify which bacterial species were present in the gut. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: to measure the concentrations of small molecules (metabolites) in the stool. Using sta...
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