New technique may more accurately identify enzymes — and may help us to know more about the functions of proteins present in the gut microbiome.
A new tool developed by researchers at Harvard University and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has the potential to help researchers more accurately identify enzymes present in the microbiome—the trillions of microbes that inhabit our digestive tract—and to quantify their relative abundance. … This is critical because the functions of the vast majority of the proteins in the gut microbiome are unknown—and it’s likely that many are enzymes, proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. The new technique was developed by Emily Balskus, the Morris Kahn Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Curtis Huttenhower, associate professor of computational biology and bioinformatics at Harvard Chan School. February 23, 2017, Harvard Gazette
- For more from Emily Balskus, her talk here, is a great opportunity to learn about the chemistry of microorganisms, as relates to gut microbiota.
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