Persistence of gut microbial strains in twins, living apart after cohabitating for decades

Using a genomics strain-tracking bioinformatics tool, researchers investigated whether shared bacterial strains remain stable and resilient to changes in diet or environment after adult twins -- who had lived together for decades -- began to live apart. The study analyzed two metagenomic sequencing databases from pairs of twins -- one for children who were still living together and the other from adult twins, ages 36 to 80, who then lived apart for periods from one to 59 years.