http://goo.gl/MYWQw6
The team suggests their findings support the idea that treatments for immune-related intestinal disorders - such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - should not be based on generalized but on personalized medicine, because this takes into account the unique composition of the individual's gut bacteria.
The gut is a complex, ever-changing environment that gut bacteria are highly responsive to. They need to adapt and evolve quickly, for example, just to cope with changes in the food we eat every day.
Because the job of the immune system is to keep a look-out for potential disease-causing agents, it must monitor closely what is happening in the gut to make sure it does not treat friendly microbes as enemies. But how does it do this?