It takes quite a lot of work to prove a cause-and-effect relationship between specific microbes and health or fitness. Here at Fitbiomics, we'd like to share and engage the public in the full process from hypothesis to discovery - ranging from sequencing athlete microbiomes to animal testing to human clinical trials. Unlike pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements and probiotics do not require double-blind placebo controlled randomized clinical trials (DBPCRCT), but we'd like to see such evidence grow and see profits from products go to support such research. Ideally we want DBPCRCT on humans with adequate study design to achieve statistical significance.
“Your body naturally produces more lactic acid than usual during intense exercise, it’s possible that the strain of bacteria can help thwart those effects”
“ We’re trying to understand what makes these elite athletes unique, extract that information and provide it to benefit and promote general health and well-being, in athletes and one day in the general population. ”
— Jonathan Scheiman, Co-founder & CEO
Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
“ Genomics-based probiotic nutritional supplements that could enhance performance in every-day-athletes. ”
Wyss Institute Disruptive
In this episode of Disruptive, Wyss Core Faculty member George Church and Wyss Postdoctoral Fellow Jonathan Scheiman discuss collecting and sequencing gut bacteria of elite athletes to produce customized probiotics - and the potential that these probiotics could give recipients access to some of the biological advantages that make those athletes elite.