GMU’s MBAC to Explore Microorganism Effects in Humans
A new molecular ecology facility at George Mason University, the MicroBiome Analysis Center (MBAC) will explore the world that human microbial cells inhabit within humans. Their effect on human health will be a major focus of researchers, who will study imbalances on or within the gut, mouth, respiratory tract and urinary and reproductive systems.
“It’s a new tactic to actually characterize the human microbiome or population of microorganisms living within the human body and try to correlate it with disease states and changes within the immune system,†says Patrick Gillevet, the MBAC’s director and associate professor in GMU’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy. “This center will allow us to sequence and characterize these microorganisms in order to study their relationship to diseases such as obesity, cancer and irritable bowel syndrome.â€
Gillevet developed and patented a technology for genomic sequencing called Multitag Pyrosequencing (MTPS) that allows researchers to “examine, count and barcode hundreds of thousands of microorganisms per day within samples taken from various ecological systemsâ€, according to GMU. MTPS will “serve as the backbone of the center’s research efforts.â€
Gillevet’s team, in collaboration with researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, is working to evaluate the presence of microorganisms in patients suffering from breast cancer, Crohn’s Disease, inflammatory bowel disease, cirrhosis of the liver and HIV. This study is supported by more than one million dollars in grants from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“It’s clear from the current literature and our own collaborative work that the bacterial community in the gut is intimately connected to the immune system function and health of the human organism,†says Gillevet. “Finding the microbes responsible for particular diseases may increase the likelihood of developing new diagnostic tests and treatments for them.â€
