Cultural revolution in the study of the gut microbiome

A human-organs-on-chips technology has been used to microengineer a model of human intestinal inflammation and bacterial overgrowth in a human-gut-on-a-chip. The advance, say researchers, allows them for the first time to analyze how normal gut microbes and pathogenic bacteria contribute to immune responses, and to investigate IBD mechanisms in a controlled model that recapitulates human intestinal physiology.