Zooming in on microbiomes
Bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms do not exist in isolation. All over the world, in plants, animals and in soil, they form communities, known as microbiomes.
The Wageningen University interviewed two microbiome researchers about their work.
Bacterial genes can be the building blocks for new antibiotics
Researchers believe bacteria still contain many more undiscovered genes and other particles that could be used for the development of medicines. Hannah Augustijn, a bioinformatician, is developing software to make that search easier.
Hannah Augustijn (28) is a PhD candidate in the Bioinformatics chair group and is also affiliated with Leiden University.
I conduct foundational research for the development of antibiotics, cancer treatment drugs and natural crop protection.
Researching the intestinal bacteria of babies
As important as gut bacteria are to humans, they are born without them. Athanasia Ioannou is trying to discover the role breast milk plays in the formation of bacterial communities in the infant gut, and she explains what drives her as a scientist.
Athanasia Iouannou is a PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Microbiology.
"We recreated the dependences between bacteria in the presence of human milk sugars to understand how they form a community. "
