Simulations of your gut may predict which probiotics will stick

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Tests of “digital gut” simulations hint at personalized probiotics but not a cure‑all yet What counts as “good” bacteria depends on the individual and the environment. Figuring out which bacteria or other nutrients your gut needs may one day be as simple as running detailed computer simulations. From pills to yogurts to sodas, probiotics are being repackaged and marketed to us more and more, with the promise of boosting our “gut health.” But while commercially available probiotics work for some people, this one-size-fits-all approach hasn’t reliably benefited consumers. Instead, new simulations can predict whether a specific bacterial strain will successfully take up residence in a person’s gut, researchers report February 19 in PLOS Biology. The simulations, called microbial community–scale metabolic models, are built on what scientists already know about how gut bacteria eat and use food. They allow researchers to simulate what would happen if a strain of bacteria were inserted into an individual’s gut, “and see whether or not it can g
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