A community of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and archaea, comprise the gut microbiome, with bacteria being the most prevalent among the microorganisms living in the human digestive track. Over the last decade, the study of gut microbiome has received great attention as part of the effort to improve people’s health. There has been growing amount of evidence linking the gut microbiome to diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), obesity, depression, Parkinson’s disease, among others. A study by China-Canada Institute found that people living to be 100-year-old have a distinct and healthy gut microbiome. The newer data analytics capabilities are further helping understand the functions of the microbiomes and their interactions with the hosts. This study has undertaken a comparative analysis of different technologies used in the field of metabolomics, and specifically those related to the gut. We found that multiple companies are working in this area with focus on, among other things, drugs targeting the gut microbiome with emphasis on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and drugs linking the gut microbiome to the central nervous system. Also, a wide range of blood and DNA testing kits for both general health and targeting specific disorders are being developed. We also found a variety of technologies being utilized, such as electrochemical detection, mass spectrometry, different forms of genome sequencing, among others. We have developed a gut microbiome resource kit for the high school curriculum. The purpose of this kit is to provide informational material that can be utilized by teachers as well as students to learn more about the gut and its impact on systemic health. Better understanding of the gut microbiome could be helpful in reducing days lost due to sickness, improve performance of athletes, and influence nutrition choices for food in school cafeterias.

Comparative analysis of the different technologies used in metabolomics and creation of a gut-microbiome resource kit for high-school curriculum

256th National Meeting (2018)

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