Spotlight on our friends the bacteria
Not long ago, everyone – including doctors and experts – mainly considered bacteria, funguses and viruses as being something undesirable, only causing trouble and disease. Now we know better. Knowledge of the role of microbes for our well-being has exploded over the past decade.
Diversity rather than simplicity
Lots of bacteria live on and inside our body. We would quickly get ill without them. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet are trying to find out more about "our friends the bacteria".
Photo: Pernilla SjöholmWhat role does bacteria play in a delivery?
Children born by caesarean section have a different bacterial flora. Researcher Emma Fransson and her colleagues at the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR) are now studying whether this can be restored, thereby reducing the risk of allergies.
Photo: Getty ImagesBalance in the vaginal flora important for health
KI researcher Juan Du is studying how the correlation between bacteria and HPV impacts the development of cervical cancer.
Photo: Marco Glijnis / Kola ProductionsTreated with bacterial culture from a healthy donor
The constant diarrhoea was ruining Charlotta's life. Through a research project at Karolinska Institutet she found a treatment that worked.
Photo: Mabel Amber/Pixabay CC0Gut microbes can affect COVID vaccine response
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered that the gut microbiome can influence how well people respond to mRNA COVID vaccines. The study, published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, suggests that certain bacteria in the gut can enhance the immune response to the vaccine, whereas other bacteria may weaken it.
Gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability
Research from Karolinska Institutet in mice shows that shows that natural gut-residing microbes can influence the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.
Photo: martin stenmarkA glimpse into the world of bacteria
We use it to eat, speak and breathe with. But our mouth is also home to hundreds of different species of bacteria. How their lives relate to some of humanity’s most common diseases is what interests Professor Georgios Belibasakis.