Knowing that gut bacteria are key to digestion and metabolism, WUSTL pathologist Jeffrey Gordon and his colleagues went in search of a core group of bacterial species that aid digestion.

References:

1. Dec. 10, 2008 — Bug genes are the key to human digestion in the New Scientist (UK)

Knowing that gut bacteria are key to digestion and metabolism, WUSTL pathologist Jeffrey Gordon and his colleagues went in search of a core group of bacterial species that aid digestion. They expected to find these species living in the guts of most healthy people.

References:

1. Dec. 6, 2008 — Bacterial mix and match is the key to good digestion in the New Scientist (UK)

WUSTL researchers Ruth E. Lay and Jeffrey I. Gordon, along with colleagues, comment on different kinds of bacteria that do not harm the human body, but in fact help it.

References:

1. May 23, 2008 — Bacteria Thrive in Inner Elbow; No Harm Done in the The New York Times

and 2 others.

Cover story on the impact gut bacteria have on our health includes the research of WUSTL microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon.

References:

1. March 1, 2008 — Nurturing Our Microbes in the Science News Online

Bacteria in the intestines can modify the body's chemistry to alter the amount of food that becomes stored as fat, according to a finding in mice reported this week that could help in controlling obesity. WUSTL scientist Jeffrey Gordon and his colleagues reported the findings in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
It is unlikely that any manipulation of bacterial levels or composition could produce weight loss, experts said, but drugs that block this activity might.

References:

1. Jan. 6, 2007 — Blame fat on the bacteria -- again in the The Los Angeles Times

and 5 others.

Another article on the research led by WUSTL molecular biology and pharmacology professor Jeffrey Gordon that shows the link between a certain kind of gut bacteria and obesity.
Gordon's research is outlined in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and two others published last month in Nature.

References:

1. Jan. 4, 2007 — Greedy guts? in the The Economist (UK)

One year ago, the idea that microbes might cause obesity gained a foothold when the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana created the nation's first department of viruses and obesity. Other scientists, led by Jeffrey Gordon and his collegues at the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, are looking at the actions of the trillions of microbes that live in everyone's gut, to see whether certain intestinal microbes may be making their hosts fat.

References:

1. Aug. 13, 2006 — Fat Factors in the The New York Times

The microorganisms that live in your gut could explain one of the sources of obesity, says a new study from researchers at Washington University led by molecular biology and pharmacology professor Jeffrey Gordon and colleague Buck Samuel. Bacteria live throughout the body, but some intestinal bacteria appear to be better than others at helping their hosts turn food into energy. The results of the study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

References:

1. June 14, 2006 — Intestinal bacteria may explain obesity in the ABC News online

and 58 others.

A small group of scientists say their research in mice suggests that a large part of the difference between fat people and thin people may come down to the microbes that live in their guts. The human digestive system is home to between 10 trillion and 100 trillion bacteria at least 10 times the number of human cells in the body. "This makes us more microbe than man," said Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

References:

1. May 22, 2006 — `Gut Bugs' Studied As A Cause Of Obesity in the Boston Globe

US research has revealed that different types of bacteria that exist in our gut may help explain why some people pile on the kilos while others stay slim, regardless of what they eat. Microbiologists Jeffrey Gordon and Fredrik Backhed, from the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri, studied two groups of mice -- one exposed to normal intestinal microbes and another raised in a germ-free bubble.

References:

1. Sept. 20, 2005 — Bugged by weight in the Herald Sun (Australia)

Thanks to recent technological advances, scientists are learning to eavesdrop on the "language" of cells and decipher their "grammar." Much is still unknown, but the research could lead to new treatments for cancer, Parkinson's, epilepsy and many other diseases.
Cells communicate with one another by exchanging tiny chemical messengers called "transmitters" and "transporters." Familiar examples are the hormones adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, estrogen and testosterone.
WUSTL Center for Genome Sciences director Jeffrey Gordon and WUSTL ophthalmologist Russell Van Gelder comment.

References:

1. July 27, 2005 — Scientists learning to eavesdrop on the language of cells in the Kansas City Star

and 14 others.

In the first comprehensive survey of this realm, Palo Alto scientists found 395 strains of bacteria living in the intestines of healthy people. Most were previously unknown to science. WUSTL's Center for Genome Sciences director Jeffrey Gordon, who was not involved in the study, comments. A separate study at WUSTL, reported last year, raises the intriguing possibility that intestinal bugs may help determine if a person is prone to getting fat.

References:

1. April 15, 2005 — Study surveys human intestines in the San Jose Mercury News (California)

and 17 others.