The influence that the gut microbiota has over the human body continues to expand in interesting ways. Seeing as the intestinal tract contains the largest concentration of immunological tissue (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue or MALT) it seems logical that the microbial communities that reside within that region would have an impact on the surrounding immune cells. However, only in the last several years has solid evidence begun to surface to show the true extent of this microbial influence. As such, investigators at the University of Bern have analyzed the billions of genes that code the antibodies in a system that allows the responses to individual benign intestinal microbes to be understood—finding that the range of available antibodies depends on where beneficial microbes are in the body.
