Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel announced the discovery of the new intestinal microbiota species Kazachstania weizmannii in mice, which competed with and limited the growth of Candida albicans, thus preventing candidiasis. Both microorganisms belong to the Saccharomycetaceae family and reside in humans, maintaining a complex interaction with therapeutic value.
A laboratory technique used to generate pluripotent stem cells from any tissue, cellular reprogramming, has led a group of researchers to the discovery of a process that could have an impact on natural tissue repair.
Avoidance of graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) after a hematopoietic stem cell transplant could depend on certain members of the microbiome. According to a study led by scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (FHCC), while some species of intestinal bacteria repressed the expression of the major histocompatibility complex II (MHC-II), others induced it and triggered the immune response that produces GVHD.