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National Microbiome Initiative To Harness Microbes For Health, Environment (wtop.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the big-payoffs dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from WTOP: The National Microbiome Initiative being announced by White House science officials Friday aims to bring together scientists who study the microbes that live in the human gut and in the oceans, in farm soil and in hospitals -- to speed discoveries that could bring big payoffs. Consider: Taking antibiotics alters the diversity of your gut bacteria, which eventually settle into a new normal. The 2010 oil spill altered microbes in the Gulf of Mexico, which likewise settled into a new normal, said Dr. Jo Handelsman, associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Despite the parallels, "we have no idea if that's a healthier norm or a less healthy norm than before, and no idea how to fix it," said Handelsman, who led development of the initiative. The U.S. government spends about $300 million a year on microbiome research, until now mostly an effort to catalog different communities of bacteria, viruses and other microbes, Handelsman said. The National Microbiome Initiative will add $121 million this year and next for ecosystem-crossing federal research. And in partnership with the government, dozens of universities, foundations and other organizations are announcing more than $400 million in additional microbiome research investments, she said. The ultimate goal is to control and alter microbes to improve either human or environmental health. One of the most recent discoveries was of a gut microbe that completely lacks mitochondria.

24 comments

  1. FP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FP

  2. The poor are being rounded up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Their gut bacteria is being stolen and they are dying because of it. Why isn't anyone stopping this?!?

  3. Post-modern America by argStyopa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is there anything that someone can't find a reason to throw 9+-digit sums of taxpayer money at?

    Seriously, I'm asking: when your country is $19 trillion in debt and spending 2/3 more than you take in, is it really a great idea to spend money on every shiny new thing you see?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too big to fail.
      Bread and circuses.
      Love Big Brother.

      Take your pick.

    2. Re: Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you,re seeing now is fodder for Obama speeches after he leaves office. You can hear him now: "During my administration we started the initiative to solve all the world's problems by..."

    3. Re:Post-modern America by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 2

      The way the money system works: YES.

      The only way to create money is by loaning in into existence (I know this phrase makes no sense, but it is still how the money system works). Off course, this loan has to be paid back with usury (for which the money was never created), so the debt only grows. The only way to be able to pay the usury is to loan more and ... pay more usury!

      --
      Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    4. Re:Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... the way the CURRENT money system works.

    5. Re:Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stuff like this is a drop in an ocean. Military spending, Social Security, and Medicaid/Medicare are the ocean. Cutting these droplets out will not meaningfully reduce the size of the ocean. Scientific research has lead to the massive economy we current enjoy. The argument that science is a waste of money ignores that fact.

    6. Re: Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So cut the big spending *first* and then add your little "dropleys". This is the argument of an addict: just one more won't hurt. I'll quit tomorrow...

    7. Re: Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cutting science research would be a net hurt for the economy because for every dollar spent on research more value is created. Why do you want to condemn the country to have less innovation, less new industries, and less breakthroughs in the future?

    8. Re:Post-modern America by bearacat · · Score: 1

      We have an AA+ credit rating, which means a high likelyhood of paying off debts. Unfortunately you libertarians don't know how credit ratings work prefer the budget fearmongering of your illiterate talk show overlords.

    9. Re:Post-modern America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      seriously?

      that AA+ credit rating means absolutely nothing, the rating agencies are completely corrupt
      remember the banking crash? the financial instruments involved in that also had great credit ratings

      the corruption that allowed that has not been cut out,
      and government fincancials are ... untenable in the medium and long term (and not just for the US but pretty much worldwide)

  4. Queen Amidala! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to stick Natalie Portman's poop up my butt!

    No, just taking a probiotic capsule won't do.

  5. Waste by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My gut feeling is that this is a complete waste of time and taxpayer money.

    1. Re:Waste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cancer researchers are starting to bet big on the microbiome as a cause for cancer. Of course, this follows from the realization that both ulcers and stomach cancer were caused by bacteria.

      I'm betting that they are finally on the right track, but still not quite to a solution yet, for it stands to reason that if the body is more biology than just chemistry, then it is simply a matter of time before these researchers will take a closer look at the most vigorous pathogenic organism of all -- the fungi. Up to this point, the suggestion that cancer might be a fungus has been so controversial that attempts to treat it as such have in some cases led to criminal charges. Yet, researchers are increasingly noticing an unusual correspondence between anti-cancer and anti-fungal substances. This line of investigation can elegantly explain why cannabis exhibits anti-cancer properties. Further, cancerous tumors are oftentimes observed to be taken over by fungal infections.

      The argument for a cancer-fungal connection is fairly well reasoned ...

      Cancer as a Fungus
      https://plus.google.com/+ChrisReeveOnlineScientificDiscourseIsBroken/posts/TJ45cMZTXJK ... so I would suggest that people keep an open mind.

    2. Re:Waste by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Learning how to tweak the microbiome will likely be as important and useful as antibiotics.

    3. Re:Waste by bearacat · · Score: 1

      That's how conservatives think, with their "gut feelings".

  6. small is beautiful by swell · · Score: 2

    Many of us here at /. were around for the beginning of the 'computer revolution'. I mark it that way because the term seems quaint now as we have also been through an 'internet revolution'. These have been exciting times and there is still a chance of some amazing digital discoveries as the dust settles.

    But the revolution in bioscience is just beginning. It will be bigger and more important to the lives of people than anything in the past. The extension of interest to tiny elements of life is as important to bioscience as the interest in sub-atomic particles is to physics. Until we fully understand the Legos, the basic building blocks of our universe, we will meander aimlessly in our grasp of Life, the Universe and Everything.

    I live a mile from the most famous zoo on earth. We have lions, tigers and bears to amuse the unwashed masses. It takes some mental sophistication to realize that microscopic life forms are far more important to us than these large carnivores.

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  7. This little-explored area by fredrated · · Score: 3, Insightful

    is one of the most significantly remaining to do really productive biology, it is about time.

  8. NBAF by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 0

    If they got a chance at this pot of money, a certain pork-barrel-drunk University https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bio_and_Agro-Defense_Facility would probably locate it next to the damn student union salad bar.

  9. Pity the lack of any curiosity by jbwolfe · · Score: 2
    This article has been up for over six hours and only 17 posts- half of which are poop jokes. :(

    When c-diff infections become more widespread, I'm guessing this topic will get greater attention. With increasingly absurd amounts of antibiotics entering the food chain leading to epidemic levels of obesity, MRSA, and other resistant bacteria, it might be time to get to know better what microorganisms our bodies are hosting.

    --
    Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
    1. Re: Pity the lack of any curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just the article. What's there to say ? Cool ? Or, don't spend so much money ?

      It's not interesting as an article in any way.

  10. Lactoferrin glycoprotein by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There needs to be more awareness of the super healing properties of bovine Lactoferrin. Do some research its amazing stuff. However it's not able to be patended, hence the lack of take up by hospitals and doctors.Nature wins...