Good morning biotech community! It’s all genetics, all the time in today’s roundup. Let’s check it out.

GENETIC SEQUENCING OF MICROBES HELPS TO CURE DIGESTIVE DISEASES – Scientists at France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research unveiled a complete genetic panorama of microbes in the human digestive track, an advance that could help cure ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It took more than 100 researchers working over two years to find over 3.3 million distinct genes spread across 1,000 species of single-celled organisms, virtually all bacteria. Co-author of the study, Jeroen Raes, a scientist at Vrije University in Brussels, said:

“The vast majority of bacteria found were not known before. But now we can start sorting out what they do in terms of function, and how they might relate to disease.”

GENETIC PATTERNS HELP IDENTIFY YEAST INFECTIONS – Researchers at Duke University developed a test that looks for specific patterns of genes that, when switched on, may lead to a better way of diagnosing dangerous yeast infections in the blood:

They said mice infected with the Candida albicans fungus have a telltale signature of genes that are active, or expressed, that is not found in the blood of healthy mice. Candida is the fourth most common bloodstream infection in the United States, yet it is often hard to distinguish from a bacterial infection. This study provides the basis for development of a blood-gene expression tests in humans to detect a life-threatening infection earlier than can be done using currently available methods”

GENES CAN HELP YOU FIT INTO YOUR JEANS – Researchers at Stanford University, backed by Interleukin Genetics, developed a new genetic test that may help dieters decide whether they would lose more weight on a low-fat diet that cuts carbohydrates or a more balanced approach. According to Christopher Gardner at Stanford:

“The potential of using genetic information to achieve this magnitude of weight loss without pharmaceutical intervention would be important in helping to solve the pervasive problem of excessive weight in our society.”