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Probotics are a booming business, with sales in the billions of dollars each year and millions of customers in the US alone. Companies claim that the microbial concoctions can help consumers do anything from lose weight to sleep better, but researchers report inconsistent effects on people’s microbiomes.
Two studies published today (September 6) in Cell find individual differences in response to probiotic supplements—with some people resistant to any effects—and varied changes in gut microbes depending on the circumstances. The findings pave the way for the development of personalized probiotics and urge another look at the common practice of taking probiotics after antibiotics.
The experiments for both studies were led by Eran Elinav, an immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The microbiome may be equally as important as the human genome for human health, he says. “But in contrast to the human genome, we ...
