Meta-analysis of the uncultured gut microbiome across 11,115 global metagenomes reveals a candidate signature of health, 2026, da Silva

[Dolphin]

'Hidden' group of gut bacteria may be essential to good health​

Scientists have pinpointed a group of bacteria that consistently appear in high numbers in healthy people, suggesting that these could one day be targeted through diet or probiotics

By Chris Simms

9 February 2026

'Hidden' group of gut bacteria may be essential to good health

Scientists have pinpointed a group of bacteria that consistently appear in high numbers in healthy people, suggesting that these could one day be targeted through diet or probiotics

www.newscientist.com

To get an idea, Almeida and his colleagues searched for the genetic fingerprints of bacteria in the array of genomes found in gut microbiome samples. These were taken from studies that involved more than 11,000 people from 39 countries, primarily in Europe, North America and Asia.

About half of these people had no known medical condition, while the other half had been diagnosed with one of 13 conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and chronic fatigue syndrome.

 

[John Mac]

The study

https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(26)00038-7

 

[Creekside]

Scientists have pinpointed a group of bacteria that consistently appear in high numbers in healthy people,

Which could mean that healthy people provide a healthy environment for those strains, rather than those strains being responsible for good health.