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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

An In Vitro Batch-culture Model to Estimate the Effects of Interventional Regimens on Human Fecal Microbiota
Published on: July 31, 2019
Probiotics and prebiotics in human health
Milton H Saier1, Nahla M Mansour
1Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. msaier@ucsd.edu
Abstract:
Probiotic bacteria are found in the intestines of humans and other mammals where they provide health benefits to the host. They do so by (1) providing nutrients and cofactors, (2) successfully competing with pathogens, and (3) stimulating host immune responses by producing specific polysaccharides. These bacteria can also alleviate the symptoms of disease-related metabolic disorders. Prebiotics are substances, usually poorly metabolized polysaccharides and oligosaccharides, that cannot be ingested effectively by the animal. They stimulate the growth of intestinal probiotic bacteria, which can utilize these carbohydrates, thereby promoting health of the organism. Genetic engineering has proven useful for the design of probiotic bacteria that counteract the symptoms of genetic and age-related diseases. Can these bacteria be engineered, through human-promoted accelerative evolution, so that they stimulate their own growth and that of other probiotic bacteria so as to crowd pathogens out of the intestine?
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