Rokos Awards 2022: Understanding the Gut Microbiome

Research into the gut microbiome has gained momentum rapidly over the past 15 years, with growing understanding of its role in our health playing into mainstream science and dietary advice.

Last summer, Pembroke student Jan Luboiński (2018, MBiol Biology) took part in a 5-week research internship at the Knowles Lab in Oxford, studying new questions about the formation of the gut microbiome.

He explains: “the gut microbiome (GM) is a community of microbes which live within the gastrointestinal tract of animals. […] The GM has been found to modulate all kinds of aspects of the organism, such as immune function, nutrient absorption and quite possibly even mood and behaviour.”

Jan’s work involved extracting microbial DNA from mice faecal samples with the aim of understanding how microbes in the gut microbiome might form an association with their hosts over evolutionary timescales. His supervisor, Aura Raulo, is interested in how microbiomes can be transmitted between individuals through behaviour. She is exploring whether mice and some of the microbes in their GM may have evolved together – implying that some microbes have become specialised to their hosts over thousands of years.

Jan reflects on the experience he gained through the internship: “Working with such delicate samples taught me a lot about avoiding contamination and how to take proper precautions to avoid that. Additionally, DNA extraction, PCR and gel electrophoresis are all very popular technologies which I now have under my belt and can use for various microbiology applications – not only microbiome research. Most importantly though, I got a taste for living and working within a lab group - a crucial skill for any budding researcher.

I am extremely grateful for the help, guidance, and welcoming atmosphere that I was given by the entirety of the Knowles lab, which reassured me in my decision to continue my master’s degree with them. I am also of course most thankful to the Rokos award, without which none of this would have happened.”

Read Jan’s full report here.

Jan’s internship was funded by the Rokos Internship Scheme which provides full funding for academic summer internships for Pembroke STEM students. Find out more here.