Part 2 of the conversation with Jamie Morton, scientist and founder of Gutsy Analytics, who talks about his June 2023 paper in Nature Neuroscience entitled, “Multi-level analysis of the gut-brain axis shows autism spectrum disorder-associated molecular and microbial profiles,” in which Jamie and 42 other authors re-analyzed prior datasets to discover new connections between the human gut microbiome and autism.
For a primer on the human microbiome, check out this 2020 review piece that appeared in Nature Medicine: “Current understanding of the human microbiome.”
We discuss:
*Implications of this work for future studies on autism — how to get at causality [2:55];
*Importance of longitudinal studies [3:40];
*Clinical trials done via sampling kits [5:40];
*Has the human microbiome changed over the past decades? [7:10];
*Microbiome research going forward, beyond autism [9:00];
*Microbiome and differential responses to drugs [10:45];
*Historical context -- when did scientists start talking about the microbiome seriously? [11:30];
*Connection to Maryland high school science standard on the nature of science [13:00];
*Connection to Maryland high school science standard on feedback in biological systems [17:40];
*Jamie’s memory from high school science — preparing for a robotics competition [20:27];
*Jamie’s advice to high school students interested in science — importance of multidisciplinary work [23:01]
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