Here’s how gut microbes train your immune system to dodge disease

(credit: Flickr/Dennis Hlynsky)

Where would we be without our gut microbes? Most likely, we’d be in the bathroom, according to a new study.

Unraveling the interplay between our immune systems and gut microbes, researchers report that sensing and befriending helpful bacteria in our intestines may be critical for avoiding inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Those invisible allies can hack into the immune system’s chemical communications and shut down excessive inflammation, averting chronic and self-inflicted damage that can cause diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and pain.

The finding, published in the journal Science, isn’t particularly surprising to scientists, who have long suspected that our microbiomes manipulate our immune responses and steer our health. But until now, the microbial tactics and the immune signals they alter have been a brown box.

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