05/03/2012

When we listen the word "bacterium" begin to tremble. Some of them have well-taken bad reputation, but many others are indispensable for the life. Groups of scientists, with several Spanish standing out, investigate to discover and to control the map of this microuniverse. To solve so widespread and different problems as the obesity and the caries depends of knowing more on what it has been already named as the "last organ".Dr. Francisco Guarner, from the digestive physiology and physiopathology group at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) it is one of out-standing 'Bacteria's tamers' highlighted by the magazine 'El País Semanal' in its edition of March 4. "The microbioma is the genetic potential, the set of the genes, the software, the catalogue of all biochemical capacities of the microorganisms of our body", explains Dr. Guarner, whose investigation of the MetaHIT was chosen as one of 10 best discoveries of 2011 by the magazine Science.