Growing old gracefully – it’s all in the gut

New research has unraveled how the gut microbiome changes as we age, and how it impacts the aging process.     While it is now well-known that the gut microbiome is linked with human health, research into its impact on aging has provided inconsistent results. Now, a team at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB; WA, USA) has published results from a cohort of over 9000 individuals, suggesting the gut microbiome does indeed impact aging.  The ISB team’s conclusion is based on analysis from gut microbiome, phenotypic and clinical data of participants between 18 and 101 years of age. This included a cohort of over 900 community-dwelling individuals between the ages of 78 and 98.  The data...