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Keywords

Obesity, Bacteriophage, Phage, Phage Therapy, Chronic Illnesses, Gut, Gut microbiome, Bacteriophage Therapy

Abstract

Obesity has become a serious health issue in the world (Ogden 2012), and its correlation to the human gut microbiota has been studied extensively since 2007 (Cani 2007). In 2013, researchers identified Enterobacter cloacae B29 from an obese patient’s gut and demonstrated its causal relationship to the host’s obese symptoms( Fei & Zhao 2013). However, there have not been many methods developed to alleviate obesity symptoms through eliminating pathogenic endotoxin-producing bacteria (such as E. cloacae B29), from the host’s gut flora. In this research, I propose a new strategy for treating obesity by using gut microbiome targeted bacteriophage therapy. Bacteriophages (phage) are viruses that infect bacteria by binding at specific and unique binding sites on the cell surface. Compared to broad-spectrum antibiotics, each phage only kills specific bacterium. Making it possible to only eradicate the pathogenic bacteria in the gut while leaving the probiotics to flourish, thus treating obesity. Multiple phages were isolated and characterized to be novel and unique phages that are highly lytic to B29 in vitro. These findings, with future studies, suggest that phage therapy may be used to be an effective treatment against obesity.

Description

Scientific communication is at the heart of science. Poster sessions are a time honored method of presenting research results in a visually appealing, concise format. The Science & Engineering department of the Harold B. Lee Library co-sponsors the poster competition for undergraduate students with the College of Life Sciences.

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2017-03-18

Language

English

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Sophomore

Combating Obesity Through Gut Microbiome Targeted Bacteriophage Therapy

Included in

Biology Commons

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