After populations of intestinal microbes-the microbiota - are established, it's unclear how they change with age, shifts in diet, activity level, co-habitation or after a blast of antibiotics, One study7 revealed that two courses of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin wreaked havoc in the gut microbes of healthy people, and that the communities never fully recovered.rnAnalysis of an individual's microbes and their metabolites may reveal those directly associated with disease and those that serve as biomarkers for a wider spectrum of conditions. It may prove possible to tailor treatments to the microbiota.
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