Using gut microbes to find and measure complex sugars in the intestine
Harnessing the gut microbiome to detect and quantify glycans
Researchers are engineering friendly gut bacteria to spot and measure specific complex sugars (glycans) in intestinal samples to help improve gut health knowledge.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hershey, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11163290 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will program common gut microbes to recognize and report the presence of individual complex sugars in messy mixtures taken from mammal intestines. The team will combine these engineered microbes with biochemical binding tools to pull out and quantify specific glycans from samples like stool or intestinal contents. Experiments will test sensitivity and specificity in controlled lab samples and in realistic gut-derived mixtures to refine the detection tools. Over time the methods may be adapted for use with human sample donation or diagnostic development.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people willing to provide stool or intestinal samples, especially those interested in gut-related conditions such as IBS, IBD, or metabolic disorders.
Not a fit: People not willing to provide samples or whose health concerns are unrelated to the gut are unlikely to benefit directly from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could enable tests that tell which specific sugars are present in a person's gut and guide diet or microbiome-targeted treatments.
How similar studies have performed: Engineered microbial sensors and glycan-binding tools have shown promise in other lab settings, but using them to detect and quantify individual gut glycans in complex mixtures is a newer, emerging approach.
Where this research is happening
Hershey, United States
- Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr — Hershey, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Townsend, Guy Edmund — Pennsylvania State Univ Hershey Med Ctr
- Study coordinator: Townsend, Guy Edmund
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.