Living beyond Earth is currently deemed impossible due to significant challenges such as human health risks from microgravity and radiation, lack of breathable atmosphere on other celestial bodies, and the immense technical and financial hurdles of building sustainable habitats in space or on planets like Mars and the Moon. While concepts like space habitats and in-situ resource utilization are being explored, the human body's adaptation and protection from space hazards remain major obstacles.
Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered that certain gut bacteria possess a vast array of genes enabling them to use a variety of metabolites for anaerobic respiration, a process that generates energy in the absence of oxygen. These findings, published in Nature Microbiology, reveal that these bacteria can thrive in the gut's complex environment by utilizing 22 different metabolites, which may also influence human health. This research enhances our understanding of the gut microbiome's role in health and disease, potentially leading to new dietary or pharmacological interventions to manage conditions like type 2 diabetes or infections by modulating metabolite pathways.
Scientists at the University of Maryland and National Institutes of Health have identified the enzyme bilirubin reductase, produced by gut microbes, as the key factor in creating the yellow color of urine through the conversion of bilirubin into urobilin. This discovery not only explains a long-standing biological question but also has significant implications for understanding health conditions like jaundice and inflammatory bowel disease, and the broader role of the gut microbiome in human health. The study's findings are published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
