«Chronic inflammation of the intestine is thought to be caused by abnormal interactions between gut
microbes, intestinal epithelial cells and the immune system, but so
far it has been impossible to determine how each of these factors contribute to the development of intestinal bowel disease,» said Hyun Jung Kim, Ph.D., former Wyss Technology Development Fellow and first author on the study, speaking
about the limitations of conventional in vitro and animal models of bacterial overgrowth and inflammation of the intestines.
«This study takes us a step
further [than the human microbiome], and tells us
about the necrobiome, the collection of
microbes on a dead body,» said Dr. Robert DeSalle, Curator of Molecular Systematics at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not affiliated with the CUNY study.