If You Thought Your Smartphone-Syncing Fitness Tracker WasCool, Wait Until You See Whats Next.Rom Virtual Pts To 3d-printed Protein Bars, He Biohacks Of The Future Are About To BlowYour Mind
Decode your gut
Fun fact: there are trillions of microorganisms living in your gut right now. But finding out exactly what they’re up to has always been a bit of a guessing game – until recently. Enter Microba, a biotechnology firm founded by scientists from the University of Queensland. They’ve developed an easy, at-home test you can use to get a high-def picture of the microbial action in your gut.
So what is it exactly? Good question! Microba uses metagenomic sequencing, which extracts the DNA from a sample and uses it to reconstruct the entire genome of microbes. Originally developed for the environmental field, it’s the most advanced tech around for exploring the gut microbiome. “It allows us to not only see who’s there, but all that additional information about what they’re able to do and how they’re interacting with you,” explains Microba co-founder Professor Gene Tyson.
This is great news if you’re one of the 10.7 million Aussies suffering from digestive problems: Microba gives detailed info about what’s going on in your gut, and tailored advice on how to improve it with food and exercise. But that’s just the start, says Tyson. As research into the gut microbiome and its impact on our overall health develops, he expects gut microbiome sequencing to become routine, like blood tests. “In the near future we hope that this can be used as an early warning diagnostic test for things like colorectal cancer,” he adds. “We’ll be able to offer tailored probiotics specifically based on your microbiome. The future is amazing in this space.”
Your move: The Microba Insight Sampling Kit isn’t a diagnostic tool – yet. But it can give you a personalised snapshot of your gut health, as well as tips to help you improve it. Order the kit for $349 at microba.com.
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Women's Health Australia.
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This story is from the November 2018 edition of Women's Health Australia.
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